


The Birth of a Legend

by AvyJC15



Series: The Infinite Series (Marvel Fanfiction) [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tomb Raider (Video Games)
Genre: Best Friends, Denial of Feelings, Earth-1218, Ego Stone, F/M, Friendship/Love, Gen, Magic, Multi, Prequel, Rejection, Unrequited Love, War, Yamatai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-09
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2019-05-26 13:03:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 10
Words: 88,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15001466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvyJC15/pseuds/AvyJC15
Summary: {Book I of Infinite Prequel Trilogy - The Birth of a Legend}"I fell," she managed to choke out through her raspy throat."And a nasty fall, it was," Ayden replied, voice just as hoarse.Elena's shocked gaze did not waver from where it rested upon the tired-looking brunette. "Y-you jumped after me," she stammered.Ayden huffed. "I told you I'd protect you."Elena weakly shook her head, eyes still wide with disbelief as she brushed the wet hair from her face. "You jumped off a damn plane, into the ocean... just for me." She paused as she watched the brunet slump onto the sand, exhausted. "You went back for me.""I'll always go back for you. You fall, I'll catch you." Ayden, then, tilted her head to the side and looked at her with a tired, slightly close-eyed smile. "And it's like I told you: when it comes to us, I'm in it for the long haul."Elena grinned back just as tiredly, remembering her telling her that the day they met. "Till the end of the line," she quoted, grabbing onto her best friend's hand."Till the end of the line," Ayden agreed, gently squeezing Elena's hand in return.





	1. Captain Jaubert's Origin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Actual Tomb Raider/Yamatai crap starts on the 5th chapter: The first worst expedition...

The Afghanistan War was raging on. It was the first war to start in the twenty-first century, barely two years after the last one in Kosovo. Though, obviously, it was not the last. There was also the Iraq War, which didn't take too long to start— two years after the one in Afghanistan.

The Iraq War was the war in which she lost _him_.

The Iraq War was also part of the War on Terror. The War on Terror is the international military campaign that started after the eleventh of September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. The United States led a coalition of other NATO and non-NATO nations in the campaign to destroy Al-Qaeda and other militant extremist organizations. This Global War on Terrorism had been going on for eleven years  _now_.

Like any other war, it was meant to be fought cold-hearted. Ayden, however, couldn't exactly ignore the guilt she'd been feeling ever since she joined the army. The kind of guilt any soldier would have when it came down to having to take someone's life away, never mind that person being from a party opposing hers. Nevertheless, she always did her best and managed to stay on duty when and as asked to. In the beginning, her main goal had been to get into the army merely to join her eeighteen-year-old best friend, Leonard Dorian. At the time, she was only fifteen. And reckless. If anyone who knew Ayden were asked to describe her in one word, it would be that two-syllable word.

Reckless.

She had no ill intentions behind her being so, of course. Carmen Cornelia Ayden Juliana Jaubert, or simply _Ayden_ as she preferred to be called, had spent a vast majority of her childhood like many other children have, unknowingly to the world, spent theirs:

She was bullied, and she got more and more tired of life being so cruel to her for no reason at all as the minutes, the hours, the days— the years went by.

She wasn't bad, malicious or even the slightest bit mischievous as a child. She wasn't spoilt, arrogant, or selfish, and she never asked for or demanded anything. She was the kind of girl who settled with what she had, thanked God for having it, and never asked for more. Still, in her mind, it was as if life was too blind to see that of her.

She wasn't given any extraordinary gift at birth, but mere diseases.

She was born an asthmatic, something she eventually managed to outgrow with time. She also suffered from a strange case of hypothermia, though fortunately for her, no one found out about it... well, that is, actually, until after she'd been in the army for about almost an entire year, when they found out they had drafted a fifteen-year-old who was, by then, sixteen. That had created quite a ruckus within the board of higher ranked officials. They knew the right thing to do would be to send her back home, but she was one of their best soldiers; she had been ranked up to Captain after her seventh month in the army after she had "borrowed" a plane and had gone on her own rescue mission with Elena.

Elena Shostakovitch had been the first person Ayden had trusted when she enrolled... or at least tried, only to be relieved when she got drafted. Both girls, having a lot of similarities, instantly clicked... well, it wasn't _exactly_ instantaneous as Ayden was rather peeved for having to save a fellow female soldier who wasn't even capable of standing her own ground or shut up when need be from being beaten down by other hot-headed male soldiers. There were only a few female soldiers in that particular camp they had been settled in, so it was rather difficult to gain the respect they quite well deserved.

But Ayden earned it good from the start.

* * *

 _She woke up early in the morning, on the eleventh of November of 2011, to put her soon-to-be-regular routine into action when she suddenly stopped after hearing a chorus of laughter. If it were any other kind of laughter—_ _joyous, friendly, joking_ — _she would've continued on her way, but she recognized the laughter she heard._

_It was the laughter of mockery._

_She frowned as she began to make her way toward the commotion, which came from behind one of the newly inhabited cabins. As soon as she reached her destination, she stopped and hid in the shadows, listening more carefully and intently watching what was going on. She felt anger suddenly take over her as she saw a short and slightly scrawny-looking girl getting beaten up by some bullying soldiers. Knowing and not liking what the outcome would be, she grabbed a rogue baton that laid nearby and held it tight between her hands._

_"Hey! Leave her alone," she called out, her brown eyes narrowing at the soldiers._

_The men stopped, turned and looked around, but when they noticed who was trying to stop them, they laughed. Ayden almost shook with frustration as she knew exactly what they thought when they saw her; they thought she was weak just because she was a girl. She mentally scoffed; if she were as weak as they believed her to be, she wouldn't have gotten into the army in the first place. That girl on the ground wouldn't have been accepted either; Ayden knew that the only reason she was on the ground, to begin with, was because she was clearly a newbie like herself, but she was also ganged up on and weaponless. Yes, a soldier must know how to defend oneself without a weapon, but it was clear the girl hadn't anticipated being attacked by her comrades._

_"Look, boys, it's another girl. What's a girl like you doing here? Huh?" They laughed. "Why don't you just leave us guys do our stuff and go play with your stupid little barbies?" said the man standing in front of the group._

_Ayden rolled her eyes, guessing the guy probably thought of himself as the leader for being the biggest in the group. She tightened her grip on the baton, tensing even more as every second ticked by. She didn't know why, but she was suddenly afraid of what she could do to those boys if they made her any more furious than she already was. She felt herself somehow relax when she noticed the scrawny-looking girl looking up at her. Ayden was now slightly smiling inside, knowing the girl was only worried about her well being._

_Ayden looked straight ahead and took a small step forward as the soldiers looked at each other. "I hope you do realize we're currently in a military base. And, even if I were a little girl... even then, I would probably prefer guns, bombs, and tanks over dolls." She shrugged to herself. "I always disliked dolls for some reason. Don't even know why, but I just always have," she replied quietly._

_The boys rolled their eyes._

_"Then what do you want?" one of them asked her._

_"Me?" She gave them an innocent look, which made them slightly falter. "Oh, I don't want anything. I just came to see what was going on and... well, you know what I find slightly amusing... yet more bemusing than anything? How a bunch of idiotic, hot-headed soldiers are bullying a female soldier. No, actually, that's rather... sexist and really low of you."_

_She didn't need her glasses to see she had hit a spot there. That rather surprised her; her words weren't even that insulting._

_"What do you want?" the 'leader' repeated. "Do you want to fight? Is that it?"_

_She gave him a tight-lipped smile, shaking her head before tilting it to the side as she glanced down at the baton in her hands. "No. I actually don't like violence." She chuckled at the incredulous look on their faces. "I know. Weird, coming from a soldier. I don't like to fight," she repeated. "But, if you want to fight, by all means." She motioned toward her with a shrug._

_"Fine then." The 'leader' chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. "Boys, let's show her why guys are stronger than girls."_

_She laughed, startling them all, along with a few other soldiers that were beginning to exit their cabins to see what all the commotion was about. "Wow! I said... rather clearly, how I don't like to fight. I know I gave you the initiative to fight me if you wanted, yet you bring in your whole group. That's cowardly for a soldier. I know there's the whole 'never leave a soldier behind,' but you're supposed to know how to stand your own ground **on your own**."_

_That seemed to have struck another nerve, however. As soon she finished speaking, the whole group ran towards her. Ayden's_   _eyes narrowed as she tightened her hands around the baton. The second they reached her, she stepped forward and swung it on one of the boys' faces. She smiled in triumph but groaned when she was caught off guard by a hand grabbing her from behind and pushing her to the floor._

_"Guys will always be stronger than little girls like you," a voice whispered in her ear before a foot was pressed onto her back as she tried her best to get free. She glared at him and spat on his face, smirking when he got angrier._

_As she struggled to get free, the smaller girl stood up and grabbed the baton, but Ayden shook her head._

_"Pause," she said, holding out a hand. She received a bunch of confused looks. She rolled her eyes. "I said 'pause,' but that doesn't mean 'keep your foot on my back.'"_

_She shoved the large foot from her back and stood up._

_"Okay, we'll make a deal. I fight each and every one of you, one at a time. If you win, you can bother us all you want, but you have to keep certain... **things** to yourselves. When I win, you leave Snow White—" She pointed at the short girl. "— and I alone. Got it?"_

_The group seemed to consider before the 'leader' nodded in agreement._

_She nodded in return. "May the feast begin!" she exclaimed sarcastically._

_As soon as she said that, a big hand went to punch her face, though she quickly caught it, twisted it, leaped up and locked the head of her attacker between her thighs before bringing him down to the ground._

_The scrawny girl gasped, along with many other soldiers that came to watch the 'show,' as Ayden jumped back onto her feet and smirked at her opponents who were clearly beginning to grow madder, not only at her but with themselves for underestimating her. One by one, they joined into the fight, each stepping in as soon as one was down. There were moments when Ayden had the lower hand, but she always picked herself back up and continued._

_A few soldiers actually backed down when Ayden suddenly said, "Did I mention I used to take Karate lessons?" but the rest were too proud and stubborn to back down. In the end, she did win the battle, and to say she was proud of herself would be an understatement._

_"Yay!" She threw her hands up in the air tiredly, looking down at the soldiers lying in pain on the ground. "Now leave us alone." She turned to walk away, motioning the other girl to follow her. "Come on, Snowy."_

_The girl was puzzled by the name but followed her either way. "Snowy?"_

_Ayden shrugged, taking the baton from her hand. "Skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as coal," she recited dramatically. "You're practically a live version of Snow White."_

_She was a pretty girl, in a rather subtle way, with big blue-green eyes, wavy black hair, a slender figure, a small chest and narrow hips. She was quite short, just a little over five feet tall, and had a few freckles on her face; she was pretty indeed—_ _pretty enough to be compared with Snow White, hence Ayden voicing that thought._

_The girl was silent as she looked at Ayden for a moment. "... that's a good thing, right?"_

_"It's good to be pretty, but when you're surrounded by men like them, it's better to tone it down a bit. Be plainer, but not too plain. One deserves to be and feel pretty no matter what, but you can't go around tempting them, or they might just end up doing nasty stuff."_

_"Okay." She paused. "I'm Elena, by the way. Elena Shostakovitch."_

_Ayden nodded. "Carmen Jaubert, but don't call me Carmen or anything remotely close to it for that matter; if you do: I **will** stab you."_

_"You really would?"_

_"Probably not. " Ayden shrugged admittedly. "I don't want to get in trouble for killing someone before even getting the chance to go onto the battlefield, but I will not hesitate to hurt you."_

_Elena frowned. "Then what would I call you?"_

_"Ayden."_

_"Why?"_

_"Because it's one of my middle names," Ayden replied in an obvious tone._

_"Er... okay." She paused again. "What belt are you?"_

_Ayden stopped short and frowned in confusion. "What?"_

_"Back there," Elena motioned toward the direction they came from. "You said you took karate lessons."_

_Ayden laughed. "People shouldn't take me too seriously when I say that. I took lessons when I was seven and quit after a month because I didn't like the violence; I never got past white belt."_

_Elena's mouth fell open. "But you—_ _back there—_ _and the twist—_ _how you—" She blinked. "What?!"_

_Ayden shrugged. "If it helps, most things I know I got them out of video games." Her jaw clenched slightly as she said that._

_"But the jump and the twist-thingy you did in the beginning..."_

_"Oh, I saw that one in a movie once, when I was young. I don't think I was even supposed to watch it since I was like five, but, ever since I saw that move, I've been wanting to try it one day. I'm actually surprised I managed the jump—_ _I've never been very agile or flexible."_

_Elena laughed in disbelief. "Thank you."_

_"For what?"_

_"For saving me."_

_Ayden shook her head with a slight shrug. "Eh, that wasn't saving. That was getting them to back off for a while, so you could train enough to kick their asses yourself."_

_"What?! But I can't do what you did with the twist and the—"_

_"You don't have to do that to beat someone." Ayden sighed and offered a small smile. "You know what? Stick by me, and you'll learn in a jiff."_

_Elena gave her a curious look. "Why would you help me?"_

_Ayden shrugged. "Friends usually help each other out, and you, kid, look like you could use one."_

_Elena's eyes lit up. "You want to be my friend?"_

_"Sure, why not?" Ayden smiled thinly yet quite genuinely, then resumed her walk, Elena following close behind._

_"Just a fair warning, I'm not a very fast learner when it comes to physical stuff."_

_"Eh, don't worry 'bout it."_

_"You really wanna help me?"_

_However thin it was, Ayden's smile never faltered, and that felt good; she hadn't smiled so genuinely in a long time. "Of course. When I'm in it from the start, I'm in it till the end, especially when it's something I'm doing for a friend."_

_"What about a best friend?"_

_Ayden stopped walking, her body going stiff, both which didn't go unnoticed by Elena, who soon gave her a quizzical look._

_Forcing a smile back onto her face, Ayden lifted a hand up and placed it on Elena's shoulder. "Sure. Best friends. So, from now on, when it comes to us, I'm in it for the long haul."_

_"Till the end?"_

_"Till the end."_

* * *

Ayden had proven herself to be the most loyal and compassionate friend anyone could ask for when she led their duo rescue team to go aid the other half of the one-o-sixth; the unit Elena's brother was in. Though it wasn't as responsible as it sounds, at first, nor was it easy; the 'difficulties' for Ayden had begun a while earlier— difficulties she had to hide.

It was a Wednesday when it  _all_  began. Ayden had decided to wake up earlier than usual to finish her training earlier, that way she could spend the rest of the day in the labs with Carson.

Andrew Carson was a twenty-two-year-old industrial genius, inventor, and businessman. Ayden loved spending time with him because she always got to learn something new about technology. Elena usually tagged along, nicknaming Andrew 'Howard Stark Junior' for being such a genius, and Ayden 'Captain America' for her adorable reactions to every new thing. It was as if she was from a different century herself, but of course, Ayden being Ayden, she'd always get defensive on that matter.

"Hey, I don't exactly come from the richest family out there, so don't blame me for finding this stuff interesting," she'd say, childishly sticking her tongue out at Elena, who would instantly mimic the gesture.

That day, Elena didn't tag along. She stayed with a few other soldiers to keep training, while Ayden went ahead. Unfortunately, she got there at the worst of times. Andrew was making an experiment of some sort with Doctor Anton Marinescu, a Romanian scientist. She managed to get everyone out of the lab... except Doctor Marinescu himself.

When she went back inside, the entire laboratory exploded. Marinescu died in her arms. It pained her, not because she had lost a good friend and someone she could easily call a mentor, but also because it reminded her of the day she lost James Grenadier, or, as she called him, Jamie. He'd been the second and last boyfriend she'd had, and, after his death, she swore to herself she would never look for that kind of love, or even let it in if it ever came seeking for her again. _Love is for children_ , and, well, it's not like she ever _truly_ got to be a kid— so why should she let herself feel it?

After Doctor Marinescu's death, she would repeatedly have flashbacks of the moment he died, her eyes glazing over, her body freezing, muscles locking into place. Andrew would always have to snap her out of it by calling her by her first name, a name she dreaded very much.

"Carmen."

Her previously glazed over eyes would flutter, then blink owlishly before looking over to Andrew. "Two things. One: don't call me that. And two: what?"

"You didn't hear a word I said, did ya?"

"Nope."

"Repeating myself wouldn't help either of us, would it?"

"Nope."

Andrew sighed; it was always the same. "You're hopeless."

"I'm realistic," she muttered before nodding her head toward the vials of blood he extracted from her. "Think you got enough?" He flinched, this was new; her voice was bitter and a little cold, though he really couldn't blame her.

"Yes," he replied, extracting the needle from her vein.

He reached toward a metal table where the medical tools he'd borrowed were displayed, though, just as he was about to grab a band-aid, he froze, his eyes glued to the spot where he had just extracted the needle from; the tiny whole, along with the many cuts left from the explosion, faded into faint pink scars, within seconds, barely noticeable anymore.

Ayden, watching herself heal as well, blinked, watching the forming scars with a blank look on her face. "Well, that's new," she muttered.

Snapping out of his daze, Andrew cleared his throat. "Any hope of reproducing whatever... _glitch_ was created in the explosion is locked in your genetic code."

"What does that even mean?" Ayden knew what he meant, but, knowing him, she knew he probably meant something else too.

"It means that, if your results show what I think it would show, his formula worked. And, then, if, or rather  _when_ , we try to reproduce it, it won't take years."

"Formula..." Ayden scoffed, permitting herself to feel a tad bit of disbelief. "You just said it's a glitch; why would you want to reproduce _that_? It may have changed me physically, but we never know what it changed inside of me. For all we know, it... it might've turned me into some kind of she-hulk."

"Well, we'll find out what it changed eventually."

Ayden sighed, running a hand through her hair. "It's not fair; he deserved more than this. So much more..."

Andrew looked at her and sighed; he hadn't known her for long, but he could already tell she would start blaming herself sooner or later.

"It wasn't your fault, Ayden. And, besides, if it could work, and only once, he would be proud to know it was with you," he said, placing a comforting hand on her arm, before turning to his equipment and beginning to put it all away.

Ayden couldn't tell if he genuinely meant that, or if he was merely trying to make her feel better, and that frustrated her. She was,  _usually_ , really good at reading people, but Andrew was just unpredictable. He would be his nerdy, geeky self at one moment, then extremely serious the next. And then he would be joking around, even going as far as flirting with her; even though he was extremely good-looking, both knew he didn't have a chance with her, Ayden mostly knowing because he was _much_ older than her, and, the last time she was with someone older than herself... well, it didn't exactly end well.

After her conversation with Andrew that day, though, about the possibilities of what her results might be, she started to distance herself from Elena and her other comrades and began spending more of her time with him. No one knew that it was simply to check if there were any good or bad side effects.

On a Sunday, which was usually a day off for all the soldiers, Ayden finally got her results. If it hadn't been for her being there in the incident and surviving, she would've been more shocked than she should've been.

"So basically... what you're saying is that I'm... a super soldier," she said, staring down at the paper test results.

Andrew bit his lip. "Of some sort."

"So… I'm like Captain America or whatnot."

"Well... you're... you're not sick anymore."

Her head snapped up, and she stared at him. "Wha— how— why am I not surprised that you figured that out?"

"Because I'm a genius," he replied, playfully bumping his shoulder against hers. "Why didn't you tell me you were so... ill?"

"Yeah, because someone who wants to be a soldier would definitely want to tell the world that they're asthmatic," she replied sarcastically. "In case you didn't know, asthma is quite a downgrade in a soldier's file."

Andrew gave her a sympathetic smile. "I guess... and that wasn't the only thing."

"... look, if it's got anything to do with my age—"

"Fifteen? Really?"

Ayden let out a huff. "Sixteen."

Andrew snorted and shook his head. "All the same, you enlisted while being underage. If they find out, you're out."

"After  _this_? I don't think they'll want to let me go in fear of me going berserk or something."

Andrew rolled his eyes. " _Anyway_ , I wasn't talking about your age when I said your asthma wasn't the only thing."

"You were still talkin' about my health?"

"Pretty much," Andrew replied with a simple shrug before taking on a rather scolding tone. "How could you be so careless about it? You know how dangerous that is? What if you died before you even got to hold a gun."

Ayden groaned. "Look, I know, okay? I know I'd gotten sick enough to be bedridden."

"And you should've been."

"But I was stronger than what'd been written down in ink, Andrew. I've been underestimated my _whole_ life; this may have been the most reckless decision I've ever made, but I... I _have_ to prove that all those assumptions about me were wrong."

Andrew sent her a small smile. "I know. You fought it, and you proved it so far by staying strong, you got here and  _now_  you're even stronger... like a million times stronger than you were."

" _This_  doesn't change anything, though."

"What do you mean?" he asked, brows furrowing.

"They find out about this? That’s it; I’m done for; they won't care that I’m a kid. They’ll probably find some way to legally hold custody over me and turn me into their lab rat or something, but if there's one thing I'm sure of is that they'll never even consider putting me in a backup unit, even less the front line." She sighed. "Might as well become a showgirl at this point," she muttered.

Andrew frowned. "So that's it. You're not going to put your new abilities to use? You're not even gonna try?"

Ayden's shoulders slumped, discouraged. "What good will that do?"

"Plenty!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in a rather theatrical way before letting them fall to his sides. " _You_  can _actually_ change the world and considering the fact that it's you we're talking about, it'll be for the better."

"I'm a...  _young girl_ , Andrew. There is  _no way_  they're gonna spare me a glance, even less look at me wholly. I was lucky enough to get drafted after giving my name, but luck has never really been kind enough to me."

Andrew sighed. "Come on, Ayden," he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and lightly squeezing them. "Don't back down now. What happened to proving yourself? Huh? I know the current position you have pretty much sucks... I mean, you're lower than a soldier—" he cut himself short at the glare she sent his way. "What I mean is: at least try.  _You're meant for more than this_ , Den _._ "

Ayden snorted. "Yeah? Well, I'm beginning to wonder," she muttered. She then bit her lip, hesitant for a moment before shaking her head. "Forget it."

That night she felt overwhelmingly sad as she sat on her cot, reading the last letter Leonard had written to her. Elena soon entered their cabin and leaned against the door frame, watching her friend with sympathetic eyes. She didn't know what it felt like to lose someone dear, but she knew she'd be just as devastated if she lost her brother or Ayden, who had, throughout their time together in the army, become her best friend.

Pushing herself from the doorway, she walked over to the sad girl, gently snatched the letter from her hands while ignoring the perplexed look she sent her way, grabbed her hand and dragged her over to her own cot, where she brought her portable DVD player out of her duffel bag.

"What are you doing?" Ayden asked, voice so soft it was barely audible.

" _We_  are going to watch a movie," Elena replied with a grin, putting in the DVD in the player.

Ayden blinked. "Movie?"

"Yeah, you know... a story or event recorded by a camera as a set of moving images—"

"I know what a movie is!" Ayden snapped.

"Okay, sheesh, sorry," Elena mumbled as the main menu appeared on the screen.

"Really, Captain America?" the brunette said, raising an eyebrow.

"You said you never watched it, so I'm gonna blow your mind away with it. Chips?" the raven-haired girl offered, bag of chips in hand.

"How did you manage to sneak this stuff into camp?"

Elena shrugged. "I'm awesome like that, though not as much as you with those sneak-attacks you're a master at. You gotta show me those moves, Captain Shades."

"I thought I was Captain America."

"You still are," Elena replied with another shrug. "And fifteen? Really?"

Ayden groaned. " _Sixteen_ , goddammit," she grumbled.

"Okay, geez, calm down, no need to go all Wolverine on me."

"Really, Elena? Wolverine?" Ayden sighed. "Shouldn't even wonder how you found out..."

Elena gave another nonchalant shrug. "Drink?" she offered, though she passed her friend the bottle of coke before even getting an answer.

"God, you're like a female version of that actor that plays Tony Stark— hiding food everywhere," Ayden muttered, uncapping the bottle and taking a sip.

Elena giggled. "Anyway... it's gonna start, so hush."

And with that, they began watching in silence, and though the Russian girl had already seen it, she couldn't help but get more and more excited at every new scene. Ayden, on the other hand, was too distracted to watch it entirely, though she did pay attention to the fighting sequences. As the ending neared, Ayden began to feel tired; she watched but could barely make sense of what was happening in the movie anymore. She'd even fallen asleep a few times.

"Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod!" Elena mumbled, clutching a pillow to her chest.

"What?" Ayden asked, shifting her glance from the movie going on to her best friend.

"This is the saddest part of the movie!"

"I thought the saddest part was when Bucky fell off the train," Ayden said, raising an eyebrow.

"The second saddest," Elena corrected herself. "Steve's gonna sacrifice himself soon— wait! Forget I said that!"

Ayden chuckled. "Can't really do that now, can I?"

Elena groaned. "Just watch, and don't you dare fall asleep again."

Ayden raised her hands up in mock-surrender. "Okay, okay." Sadly, she was too tired, to oblige to her friend's command. When she woke up again, she found Elena balling her eyes out.

"I can't believe you fell asleep through that part!" Elena cried out, sobbing at the sad scene her friend had just slept through.

Ayden rolled her eyes as she tried to rub the sleep away from them while stifling a yawn with her arm. "Ugh... just tell me what happened."

Sniffling, Elena nodded. "Well, he got a kiss, jumped onto the plane to find ugly-ass Skull and fought him. There was this big flash thingy, which I still don't get, then Red face disappeared into the cube and Captain was left to have to crash the ship to save the whole world!" she sobbed even louder.

Ayden chuckled softly and pulled her friend into an embrace which she instantly returned. "I hope that  _that_ , or anything remotely close to that never happens to us," she mumbled.

"You're telling me," Elena muttered against her shoulder, before looking up to slightly glare at her. "I know you told me you love planes and all, but, if you ever get to actually fly one, don't you ever dare pull a Captain America on me, you hear me?"

Ayden laughed softly. "I promise, Lena..."

It was four weeks later, on a regular rainy day... well, regular for them, that things began to rile up. Ayden and Elena had just finished training for the hour and were getting some refreshments near the main cabin, under a tent, chatting about. The soldiers who passed by would've thought they were talking about tactics and, well, basically military stuff, by the serious look on the faces of both young woman; they were really just in a deep discussion regarding comic books and movies.

Ayden was about to say something when, suddenly, the screeching of a medical van was heard, bringing back the wounded from the front line. Both of them shared a look before turning their attention back towards the commotion; nurses started to reel out victims, their feet splashing in the mud.

"They look like they've been through hell," Elena commented.

"These men more than most," said Marvin Jones, one of their comrades who had just joined them, plainly as he helped himself to a water bottle. He was one of the few soldiers who got along well with the pair, but also one of the  _many_  who had become completely smitten with Ayden.

"A force was sent out to counter ours," he continued. "Near Bagram, for Al-Qaeda... again."

Ayden frowned, puzzled. "Bagram? But Al-Qaeda's Iraqi, not Afghan. And I thought they got grounded when the Iraq War ended since it ended after the military intervention in Libya."

Marvin shrugged, a sign of agreement from his part before he continued what he was saying. "I'm guessing they've had backup camps this whole time; two hundred men went up against 'em, and less than fifty returned. The guys you met earlier are what was left of the one-o-sixth. The rest were killed or captured..." he trailed off.

"The one-o-sixth?" Elena suddenly asked, back jerking straight.

Ayden noticed the change in her friend and got worried. "What? What is it?"

"Damian!" she cried out, throwing her Styrofoam cup aside and getting up on her feet. "Damian's in the one-o-sixth!"

"Damian? Your brother?"

Elena ran her fingers through her black hair, ignoring Ayden's question. Then, without warning, Elena took Ayden by the hand, and they ran out into the rain and towards the other side of the camp.

Ayden was still confused. "Elena!"

"Come on!" Elena urged as they ran.

They reached their Colonel's tent, where he was writing condolence letters. He looked like he had been up all night signing them.

"Colonel," Elena said.

"Shosta... what?" he said, slightly irritated for being interrupted. "What's so important that has to interrupt me from my work?"

"I need the latter casualty list from the Al-Qaeda operation, near Bagram."

Ayden's eyes widened at her request. There was a slim chance that their Colonel, a man in his golden years, who always wore grimace that suited his gruff attitude, would actually comply with her.

"You don't get to give me orders, kid," he snapped at her.

See? The man was such a hard ass— he could be impossible to break through at times.

"I just need one name, Sergeant Grayson Damian Shostakovitch from the one-o-sixth," Elena said to him straightforwardly.

The Colonel glowered at Ayden, and she knew she was in for it. But what for, she did not know.

"You and I are gonna have a conversation that you won't enjoy," he said sharply, brandishing his pen at her.

She was confused for a moment before she started panicking.  _What if they found out?_ She didn't really care if they found out about the incident that occurred not so long ago in Andrew's lab. All she was worried about was them finding out about her  _little_  stunt she pulled to get into the army.

She'd be in deep shit...

"Please tell me if he's alive, Sir. S-H-O-S-T-A-K—"

"I can spell it," he intercepted.

 _Oh, please, you can't even say it_ , Ayden thought, fighting back an eye roll.

There was a silence as he looked at Ayden and then at Elena again. This meant bad news. He stood up and began shuffling through a thick stack of yellow papers.

"I have signed more of these condolence letters today than I would care to count. But the name does sound familiar. I'm sorry."

Ayden pursed her lips and stepped forward. "What about the others? Are you planning a rescue mission?" she asked.

"Yes, it's called 'winning the war,'" he said.

She scowled. "Where have I heard that before?" she muttered sarcastically, earning herself a glare from her superior, but she ignored it.

Elena frowned at the man. "If you know where they are, why not at least—"

"They're over fifty miles behind the lines through some of the most heavily fortified territories around. We'd lose more men than we'd save. But I don't expect you to understand that."

His remark earned a frown from both girls. Ayden felt the need to say something, but like anything, she was already going to be grilled by him later on for whatever trouble she was in now.

"I think I understand just fine," Elena retorted plainly.

"Well, then understand it somewhere else," he said sharply. "If I remember correctly, you are scheduled for another training round in thirty minutes."

Elena's eye twitched, but she did not insist any further. "Yes, Sir. I am."

Just as she and Ayden were about to turn to leave, the Colonel spoke again, and this time he didn't sound irritated. No, he was furious.

"Jaubert, stay."

Ayden bit her lip, knowing she was in for it now. Whatever it was she was in for. She nodded at Elena, who reluctantly nodded back and walked off. She turned to face the Colonel, who was giving her a cold look that sent shivers down her spine.

"Can you tell me why, exactly, was I told that you were actually fifteen years old and not nineteen as your file so clearly states?"

Ayden froze.

 _Shit_.

"... I'm sixteen?" she tried, but it came out more like a question.

"You think that makes it any better?" he snapped.

Ayden sighed in defeat. "What do you want me to say? I'm sorry? I'm sorry for wanting to be in the army so badly that I...  _modified_  my file as best as I could? That I'm sorry I'm talking to you this way right now, because I am really sorry about that," she added quickly before going back on track. "But I'm not sorry for the rest. I'm not sorry I faked my age. I'm not sorry about a lot of things in my life that may have been reckless and stupid because, in all honesty, most of them got me where I wanted to be."

His cold look turned a tad bit soft as he looked down at the girl whom he had spent the past few months believing she was as old as she looked when, in reality, she was just a child. "Why would  _you_  want to be in the army?"

She didn't answer at first, but when she did, she was deadly serious, a side of herself she barely ever showed except when she'd be training, though, even then, she would never be as serious as she was at that moment.

"I've never had a friend— a real friend before. One I could trust, tell everything about anything to. A friend to understand me, to not just hear me, but  _listen_  to me." She wrapped her arms around herself as if hugging herself. "Until I met Leonard. Leonard Dorian."

She saw something flash in her Colonel's eyes— recognition, though she dismissed it.

"He was a lot like me in some ways. He hated violence, and though he had people around him, he felt alone... like me."

She took a deep breath and looked out at the rain. "I used to be very close to my brother. He'd protect me from everything and anything. He'd look after me, care for me— heck! He taught me my first word... which wasn't exactly something I should even know until either of us was at least past fourteen." She chuckled slightly. "But then he started high school. I was left to fend for myself in my third year of elementary school."

She looked down at the now muddy ground. "I'm the suffer-in-silence type of person," she admitted. "My mom was sick, my brother and I were sick; I didn't want to have them always on my back, worrying. It was already bad enough my mom was ready to rush me to the hospital for a simple paper cut... I didn't want to worry her any more."

She sighed. "I was a kid with a lot of issues. Afraid of losing someone while not even knowing what death is... asthma, bad eyesight, learning disabilities... I wanted to prove that I wasn't just a dumb, sick kid. Yes, I may have become majorly depressed at some point in my life while trying to do so, but I really didn't care! I just wanted to prove to the world that I can be smart if I pushed myself hard enough, that I could run a freakin' cross country without having an asthma attack!"

She let her arms fall to her sides as she balled her hands up into fists. "Leo was the only one to understand that. He knew me like the back of his hand. At first, it was out of selfishness. I didn't want to lose the  _only_  person who knew and understood me so well... but then I remembered how his life wasn't so great either."

She closed her eyes. "His brothers hated him. They're the reason he was drafted— _they_  got him put into the army when he didn't even want to be in it, but he couldn't really say no. He left, and all I could think about was how alone he was going to be... how alone he was going to feel. I didn't want him to be alone, to feel alone like I was and felt, so I did what I did."

The Colonel frowned. "Did you not think of your family?"

Ayden opened her eyes and chuckled dryly.

"What family?" Her voice was strong, yet it cracked a bit. She shook her head. "The family I once had deserted my mom, my brother and I the second my father's funeral was over. My mom? Her room is right in front of mine, but we barely ever shared four sentences every day as she can barely look me in the face without thinking of my dad."

Ayden's heart clenched as she subconsciously gripped the hem of her shirt. "My brother? He's caught up with work and, if I'm correct, now university as well."

At that precise moment, Andrew walked in but she, nor the Colonel, paid him any attention.

"Yes, I may have had a few...  _friends_  here and there, but none of them ever really cared about me enough to at least ask me how I was feeling— to even get to know the real me. And if they did care properly, well, they never showed it, except... except for Leonard. He's the reason I came out here in the first place. And now he's gone, but now there's also Elena. She may not know about my falsified file... well, actually, she does, now, but that's not the point. The point is, she gets me. She knows the real me, almost as much as he did, and if you think for one second that I'm gonna back down from something that  _I_ want, something that I believe in just because I was ordered to... well, I'm sorry to tell you this, Colonel, but you're wrong."

She turned toward the Colonel and looked him dead in the eyes. "I may be a soldier, but in no way will I ever let there be strings on me to hold me back. I'm not invincible, but I sure as hell can try to be."

And with that said, Ayden stormed out of the tent without looking back.

Silence lapsed between the inventor and the Colonel. Andrew, who had been staring wide-eyed at the spot where the young soldier had previously been standing, looked toward the elder man with a full-blown grin on his tanned face.

"Don't start with me, Carson." He sighed. "Just go after her already."

With that, Andrew ran out after the young girl.

"What do you plan to do, exactly?" he asked as he fell into pace with her. "Walk to Bagram, then swim to God knows where the heck they are?"

"If that's what it takes," Ayden replied as they both neared the inventor's laboratory.

"You heard the Colonel; your friend is most likely dead."

"He's not my friend; he's Elena's brother," Ayden said. "And you don't know if that's true."

"Even so, he's devising a strategy to take."

"By the time he's done that, it could be too late!" Ayden spun on her heels to face him, face full of determination. "You told me you believed I was meant for more than this. Did you mean that?"

Andrew stared back into her eyes. "Every word," he replied, voice and face full of sincerity.

"Then you gotta let me go, Andrew."

Her face was full of determination, and her eyes showed hope, hope that the world would be more empathetic and let her prove herself. She hated breaking the rules. That was probably the only thing she hated, but, when she had to, she wished there would be at least  _someone_  who'd have faith in her.

"I can do more than that."

Before she could ask him what he meant by that, he grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her off toward the new temporary laboratory, as the old one was still in the middle of being rebuilt. He handed her a regular soldier's coverall, along with a rather unusual black ensemble to wear under it. After putting on the black attire in a more private area, she grabbed the coverall and made her way back to Andrew, placing the piece of clothing on a nearby chair.

"You know, you're gonna be in a lot of trouble, later, at the lab... well, technically here," Ayden said as she buckled up her black tactical vest.

She then slipped on the dutch-tank coverall, followed by a camouflage-colored tactical vest, so she was doubly protected. She felt like a stuffed doll, but it's always better to be safe than sorry.

Andrew scoffed. "And you won't?"

"Well, where I'm goin', if anybody yells at me I can just..." She raised her hands and brought them together, tucking both of her little, third, and middle fingers into her palms, mimicking one's self when holding a gun. " _Bang!_  You know?"

"And they will undeniably shoot back."

"Not if they're dead," Ayden deadpanned in a slightly nonchalant tone.

Andrew looked at her for a moment, a small frown creasing onto his face. "You seem a lot less bothered by the idea of having to kill," he observed.

Ayden looked back up at him. "Me?" She laughed and shook her head. "Oh, no. The idea still terrifies me, but there's nothing I can do about it."

"You can  _not_  go," Andrew said in a 'duh' voice.

The girl's face went hard. "But then the rest of the one-o-sixth would die." She looked down at the shoe she was tying, brows furrowing. "There’s a reason they say that with great power comes great responsibility. "

"Spider-man says that. "

"Uncle Ben says that, " Ayden corrected him. "But really though, I can’t not do anything; I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I found out there was so much I could've done to save them but did nothing."

She began to tie her other shoe, in silence, when Andrew suddenly said, "Those are for men."

She rolled her eyes and, once done, straightened up. "Gadgets."

"Oh, right." He reached for a metal table, but then paused at the last second. "By the way, _you_ 'd look  _awesome_  wearing spandex."

Ayden gave him a weird look. "You do realize you're six years older than me, right?"

"Age didn't stop Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart. And they're twenty-three years apart."

"Andrew, you're making this moment very uncomfortable."

"It only becomes so when you mention it."

"Well, I said it because it was, now gear and gadgets."

"Fine," said Andrew, holding the word out, as he finally rolled over a metal table, where many gadgets and weapons were on display. "Okay, so you've got your usual military tactical gear. That's 101, you've always got that." Ayden nodded as she put the gear aside and they both focused on the new gadgets. "Now, for the gadgets. They're new."

"Are these prototypes?"

"... maybe." He noticed the worried expression she sent him and quickly added, "But I've tested them enough to know they'll work just fine."

Ayden knew better than to doubt him. She nodded. "Okay, deets?"

"Right." Andrew picked up the first item. He proceeded by handing her a grappling gun, a submachine gun, a sniper rifle, two handguns, throwing knives, a digital smart-watch, a black iron face mask that was adjustable and flexible and also worked with goggles.

He put everything in a—

"Is that a Timbuk 2 Harlow backpack?" Ayden asked, staring at it in disbelief as the man put every gadget in it. How could a sniper rifle and many other guns and weapons fit in that?

"It's very efficient and comfortable for carrying gear."

"Yeah, gym gear, not rifles and... definitely not  _military_  gear."

Andrew shrugged. "Made some adjustments— added a bit of tech here and there..."

"Yeah, I can see  _that_ ," Ayden mumbled, grabbing the bag and looking at it in awe.

"Oh! And I added a reusable parachute in it." He reached a finger to one of the straps and pointed at a slightly camouflaged button.

"Now this," he held a tactile device up to her, "is an iPhone 5S— a tactile cell—"

"I know what an iPhone is!" she snapped. "Just because I never had a cell phone, doesn't mean I’ve never seen one before. Geez! I'm not from another time, dude."

He chuckled. "Sometimes it seems like it. Anyway, I created an app you'll surely need to get back. You just press it, and it'll send me a signal that'll lead me to you." He then handed her a small device that looked like semi-transparent colored monocle that was meant to cover her left eye. "This is a scouter. It has an all-purpose computer installed in it."

"Does it have a main feature?"

"I'm glad you asked that, and, yes, it does. It's a sensor of some sort; it can detect people standing miles away from you," he told her.

She hooked it to her left ear and let out a surprised breath; it wasn't as uncomfortable as she thought it would be. Activating it, she watched with interest as tiny numbers began to appear on the screen-like transparent monocle-readings.

"It can measure their power levels, or strength if you will and compare it to your own, so you have an idea of who you're facing. Oh! And the monocle is retractable."

Ayden found herself grinning as she deactivated the device and took it off. "It's awesome."

Andrew gave out quite a 'modest' shrug. "Well, I did create it." He then held out a pair of goggles. "Now, these are  _night_  goggles. They're an optoelectronic device that allows images to be produced in levels of light approaching total darkness. They're usable when under night and daylight."

"Is it, basically, like in video games? With the whole x-ray feature?"

"Somewhat. The scouter does a bit of the same, but, as I said, it's more of a sensor. These goggles are specially made for the night; they light the night with stealth beams for secret overnight ops. The built into the eye-gear will permit you to see up to twenty-five feet in the dark..." He looked at her, brows furrowing. "You  _are_  going to take off those glasses when you go, right?" he asked, eying her large and bold black wayframe with classic details and curved edges.

"The explosion might've enhanced a lot, but nothing changed in my eyesight."

He grabbed a tiny metal case and held it out to her. "Then wear these contact lenses; we don't want you to become blind from having broken glass in your eyes."

"But I don't like contacts," Ayden protested in a slightly childish tone.

"Sometimes I forget you're a kid," Andrew mumbled, sighing at the pout on the young girl's face.

Her pout turned into a glare. "Duly noted," she replied, referring to his earlier flirting.

He rolled his eyes and sighed. "Just put them on. If your glasses survive whatever crash you're planning, then, you can wear them,  _after you land_."

"Land where?"

The pair turned to see Elena standing at the entrance of the laboratory, a puzzled look on her face as she looked from the two of them to the weapons, then back up at them.

"And when were you going to tell me you became a freakin' female Captain America?" she asked Ayden, who only bit her lip in response.

Andrew rolled his eyes at the somewhat bossy girl and only sighed when Ayden sent him a helpless look.

"Land where, Andrew?" Elena repeated, more demanding. "What's going on? Where are you going, Carmen?"

Ayden groaned; she hated being called by her first name. "Elena..."

"This crazy girl is planning to go ambush whatever place the one-o-sixth is being held at," Andrew blurted out.

"Andrew!"

"What? You know I can’t keep secrets for shit!"

Elena blinked in surprise; she was not expecting that. "... one-o-sixth."

Ayden hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Pretty much. Yeah."

"Are you out of your goddamn mind?!"

"Maybe, but the decision's already been made," Ayden replied.

Elena huffed, cheeks starting to flush red as she glared at her friend. "Would you stop acting rogue for a second? Stop being freakin' suicidal."

Ayden sighed. "Lena, my goal, when I came here, was to be put on the field as soon as possible to start soldiering. It's been, what? Half a year since I've been here? Where have I been? Stuck in this stupid camp. I came here to fight, and if the Colonel won't let me... well, then I guess I'll just let myself."

"But why this, Ayden?  _This_  isn't your job."

"Then  _what_  is my job? Huh? Why am I here— to play with a Nutcracker?" she asked, a hint of sarcasm near the end. Andrew snickered at that, but both girls chose to ignore him. "If fighting to defend and save peoples' lives isn't my job, then I don't know what is."

Elena looked at her friend who looked back at her with desperate eyes. "He's devising a strategy..."

"To take, I know; billionaire over there already told me that." Ayden pointed a finger at Andrew, who playfully raised his hand, as if he were a schoolboy, to indicate he was the billionaire she was talking about. "But, just like I told Andrew, by the time the Colonel comes up with a plan, it could be too late!"

"I get that you wanna be a hero— "

Ayden's hands balled up into fists. "I  _don't_. And I'm not. And I'm  _fuckin'_  glad about it, but still."

"Still what, Ayden? You could die out there, never mind you being like Captain Stars and Stripes!" Elena inhaled deeply, then exhaled before saying, "We may have trained a lot, but we haven't trained for this."

"I'm not gonna just sit back and watch as the world gets torn apart!" Ayden pounded her fists on the metal table, denting it.

Elena looked at her for a moment before calmly asking, "This isn't even about the world, is it?"

Ayden stared down at the dent under her hands. "I don't... we lose people every day, Elena... but nothing hurts more than losing someone so dear to you, knowing there was something you could've done to avoid losing them."

It was silent between the three for a moment. It was heavy and heart aching, mostly for Ayden as she grieved her loss again.

"You blame yourself for Leonard's death, don't you?" Andrew said, realization finally hitting him. Elena looked at him, then looked over at Ayden again, only to realize that Andrew was right.

If she heard him, she didn't show it; her hands unclenched and slid till they reached the edge of the table and gripped it as if to keep herself from falling. She blinked rapidly, eyes never leaving the dent her bare hands had made on the iron table. Elena recognized that she was on the verge of collapse, so she moved behind Ayden, putting her arms around her waist and resting her head comfortingly on her back.

"Carmi, you weren't there, and, even if you were, there's nothing you could've done." Elena squeezed her a bit tighter. "You can't save everybody; you're not all-powerful." Ayden stiffened at her words and pulled away from her suddenly and angrily, Elena realized.

"But I should be!" Ayden growled, and then she looked at Andrew and Elena, her face a mask of grim determination.

"Carmen, don't say that," Elena replied, but Ayden didn't even seem to hear her.

"But I _should_ be!" she railed on. "And someday, I _will_ be. I promise you! I will even learn to stop people from dying!"

"Ayden, you know that's impossi—"

"It's all  _their_  fault!" She stormed across the room and slammed her fist onto a metal workbench, nearly dislodging the contents displayed upon it as she dented it as well. "They always stop me from— they always bring me down."

"To protect you," Andrew said quietly.

Ayden looked at him and laughed dryly. "I should have been out with him! I'd have had his back— we would've made it out together, and he would've been here alive!"

"You can't know—"

"They're so selfish," Ayden rambled on, paying no attention to either of them at all. At this point, she wasn't talking to them, they realized, but was just playing it all out verbally for herself. They could hardly believe what they were hearing. "They put me out of the way because they know that I can achieve what they never could. But why? They don't even care! They never did! UGH! _Na' mas me jalan pa' tras! Como si no puedo vivir bien con ellos, pero tampoco sin ellos... que tanto me odian?! No hice nada!_ "

She finished by picking up a random tool and throwing it across the laboratory, where it smashed against a far wall and clattered down. Andrew was about to complain about that but decided against it when he noticed the glare Elena sent his way.

"Ayden, what's wrong?" she cried at her.

Her volume and tone finally got Ayden's attention. "I just told you!"

"No!" Elena yelled back at her. "No. What's  _really_  wrong?" Ayden just stared at her. "I know it hurts, Ayden. But this is more than that. What's really wrong?" She just stared at her.

Frowning, Elena tried again. "Ayden?"

Ayden blinked as if being snapped out of a trance. She looked around herself, her face taking on a puzzled look as her eyes glazed over the dented metal movables and a random tool laying on the floor before the far wall. She looked back at Elena and Andrew, who were looking at her worriedly, and suddenly remembered. She looked at Elena, eyes full of hurt the latter had only seen in them when she'd read the last letter she'd gotten from Leonard.

"When you lose someone... that loss... it stays with you." She paused for a moment, then went on. "You can love someone so much... but you can never love people as much as you can miss them." Ayden sighed, looking down at the ground. "I know what it's like, okay? It's painful as hell— I don't want you going through that, Lena."

The silence returned, lasting a bit longer this time... that is until Elena spoke up.

"You're not strong enough to do this on your own," said Elena, her voice soft as her gaze fell to the floor.

Ayden gave her a look that clearly displayed how offended she felt. " _Your_ lack of confidence in me is a little insulting," she deadpanned.

"It's not lack of confidence, Ayden— I trust your capability to the fullest, but you just can't do this on your own."

Ayden scoffed, rolling her eyes; telling her she couldn't do this on her own was a clear indication that she lacked confidence in how able-bodied Ayden really was now. "Right, there’s no lack of confidence there," she retorted sarcastically, snorting in slight disbelief as she tore her gaze away from her friend. "Then what would you suggest?"

Elena raised a brow at her. "I thought the implication was clear— I'm coming with you."

Ayden looked back at her, eyes wide in surprise at her statement. "What? No!"

"I'm coming, whether you like it or not."

Andrew chose that moment to bring out a backpack, twin to the one Ayden was going to take.

"You had this planned out already, didn't you?" she asked flatly.

Andrew shrugged. "I figured that if she found out, knowing how stubborn you both are, she would go for plan B, which is going with you."

Ayden looked at them for a moment, then groaned. "You guys are hopeless."

Elena grinned smugly. "'Till the end of the line, pal.'"

"Oh, shut up," replied the Canadian.

"You love me."

"I would love to stab you."

"I still think you'd look great in spandex."

"Andrew, just take us to the stupid airfield."


	2. Outfitting a Hero

Ayden knew it was a suicide mission, though she didn't really care about being shot at— she was more afraid of the possibility of her crashing the plane, seeing as she had never flown one before, even less driven a car.

"Do you even know how to fly one?" Andrew asked her when they'd reached the private slot in the Bagram Airfield.

Ayden blinked. "Yes. Of course, I do. What would make you think otherwise?" Of course, what she told Andrew was a complete and utter lie; she'd only flown planes in video games.

Not even giving him the time to think of a reply, she grabbed Elena by the arm and pulled her over to the plane he'd assigned them.

Elena and Ayden were left shocked when the latter had actually managed to infiltrate them both into the enemy's base flawlessly... well, they did have a few bad  _turns_  and a few  _bumps_  on the road, but the rest of the flight was alright... until they eventually crashed, though that was done on purpose. Their arrival had been noticed, but they had to make the enemy think they were dead, so they grabbed their parachutes, their weapons, and helmets, and jumped to the rescue, letting the plane dive into half of the base, which went to their advantage. That was the perfect distraction they wasted no time in using to rescue the one-o-sixth.

"I feel like Captain America," Ayden muttered as she and Elena rushed through the wilderness.

"Well, Captain? Focus and stop making me feel like Bucky," Elena retorted, quickly readjusting her helmet, as they crouched behind a tree when they heard some people from the opposite party running past them.

"Hey, Bucky was cool," Ayden whispered, defending one of her favorite Captain America characters. "... from what I can remember..."

"You're just saying that because Sebastian Stan plays him in the movie."

"He becomes the Winter Soldier," Ayden continued, not having quite registered her friend's retort.

Elena snorted and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and I become the Arctic Blade," she replied. "Just shut up."

Ayden's face heated up, but not in embarrassment. "You should not talk like that to those who are younger than you, that's bad role modeling," she accused. "Besides, I don't even know the names of the actors, even less of Stan Lee, okay?"

Elena snorted as they rushed forward, still crouched. "That made no sense— Stan Lee was the writer. Sebastian Stan was the actor, you dimwit."

"Exactly my point," Ayden exclaimed in a whisper.

"Where did you learn how to fly a plane?" Elena suddenly asked, changing the subject as they pressed their backs against another tree when they heard a gunshot.

Ayden was silent. Elena turned, only to find the sixteen-year-old aiming her sniper at something far ahead. After a second, she pulled the trigger before hearing, a second later, a grunt and a thump. Elena gave her an appreciative look as Ayden straightened her position, all the teasing from earlier completely wiped from her face.

"I didn't," she replied, her tone empty as she walked toward her kill.

Elena was suddenly confused. "Didn't what?"

"I didn't exactly learn how to fly a plane; I was never taught."

Elena gave her a perplexed look. "Then how the hell did you know how to fly it?"

Ayden stopped walking for a moment, almost causing Elena to crash into her back. A grim smile stretched across her lips as she looked down at the dead man who had the bullet from her sniper rammed into his forehead.

"Video games."

And with that, she grabbed the man's weapons and continued her way, a dumbfounded Elena hot on her heels. That was when Ayden's Schizoid, or Split Personality Disorder, was discovered and, thankfully, only kept between the two girls.

Ayden quickly skimmed through the woods, crouching now and then, and hiding behind trees and large boulders as to not get caught.

"Ayden, slow down, will ya?" Elena huffed loudly. Ayden quickly spun on her heels, grabbed Elena and practically slammed her against a tree trunk, pressing her hand over her mouth to keep her from speaking. " _Hmmmm? Hmmm mmm mmm hmmmm?_ "

Ayden gave her a weird look. Rolling her eyes, Elena grabbed her hand and removed it from over her mouth to speak. "I said: 'Ayden? What are you doing?' But, of course, you couldn't hear me because your hand was over my mouth!"

"Shh!" Ayden clamped her hand over Elena's mouth again.

Once again, Elena ripped her friend's hand from over her mouth. She opened her mouth to speak again but then clamped it shut when she heard voices not so far away.

"Oh, that's why," Elena mumbled, giving her friend a sheepish look.

Ayden rolled her eyes at her. "Yeah, that's why." She began to walk ahead, crouching as best as she could while doing so so she wouldn't get caught. "Now shut it. We're getting closer," she whispered.

"Actually, we're already there," Elena replied.

Ayden turned and gave her a surprised look. "Really?"

"Oh, don't be so surprised. You're a freakin' road runner." Elena exhaled tiredly as they both peeked out from behind the tree. " _бог_ ,  **(God)**  you'd win a cross-country and wouldn't even realize it."

The Canadian girl hushed her and urged her to follow her behind the bushes. They both mentally thanked God that it was starting to get dark outside; it's easier to take on enemies that way

Ayden took off her glasses and put them away, replacing them with the irritating contact lenses. She then brought out her night goggles and struggled a bit as she pulled them over her helmet, placing them over her eyes before turning them on and activating the x-ray function to look through the wall of the warehouse-looking building, and the tents and trucks encircling it. Elena, having put on her own pair of night goggles, scouted the rest of the area they had just come from, just to make sure no one was still around.

"There are some weapons in the tents, a few left in the trucks, but most have been emptied; everyone's inside," Ayden listed.

Elena nodded. "Well, the coast is clear back here. Should we get in?" she asked, readying herself to stand from her crouch.

"Yea— wait." Ayden quickly brought her back down as four more trucks made its way into the somewhat crowded yet empty camp. The girls shared a look, then, as though communicating telepathically, they nodded at each other and quickly snuck over, and crouched as they waited for the vehicles to get closer. As the last one drove by, Ayden gave Elena a boost before jumping in herself, only to be greeted by seven enemy soldiers.

Elena froze, though a nervous smile grew on her face. Ayden just looked awkward and out of place.

"Hey, fellas," she greeted, unknowingly coy, with a nod, bringing a smirk onto Elena's face. The men rushed toward both girls, but they were faster and knocked them out of the truck.

"You've gotten better," Ayden complimented.

Elena gave her a lopsided grin, as she took off her helmet, freeing her long raven braid from it. "Well, someone's gotta train hard to keep up with you."

The truck then turned, backed up, and finally came to a stop. They were there. Ayden quickly began to press randomly on her watch, only to be startled a few seconds later when a ballistic shield erupted out of it. She looked over at Elena who'd been startled as well.

"Well, he sure wasn't kidding about the watch being smart," Elena blurted.

Snapping out of her daze, Ayden rolled her eyes as she placed her iron mask over her face, Elena doing the same. "Get behind me," Ayden instructed as she readied herself behind the shield and waited.

The canvas on the back of the truck was soon pulled away, filling the space with dim light. Ayden used her shield to knock out the guard. She quickly pressed the crown of her watch, retracting the shield into it, before climbing out of the truck and darting between rows of tanks, Elena hot on her heels, handgun at the ready. They looked around before running across the lot, then climbing into another tank to reach the top of a building, running across the top before finally getting inside.

"You're not seriously gonna knock on the door, are you?!" Elena whisper-yelled, in disbelief, through her own iron mask.

"Got another option?"

"Well, no, but—"

Ayden gave her a look, causing Elena to sigh and stop talking. Glancing around quickly, Ayden and Elena shared another nod before Ayden finally knocked. A guard opened the door and stuck his head outside, which Ayden wasted no time in slamming against the door, knocking the guard out with a precise punch, and dragged him out.

"Nice hit," said Elena as she took off her night goggles.

Ayden nodded. "Thanks."

They hid between boxes before zipping across the opening, to a row of furnaces, then again to a row of giant metal pods. They got out of the main factory and managed to make it above the holding cells. There was a guard walking around, making sure the prisoners weren't making any trouble.

"May I?"

As Elena took off her iron mask, she motioned forward. "Be my guest," she replied.

And Ayden jumped on him and knocked him out, making him land above one of the cells. The sudden attack startled all of the prisoners, causing them to look up, most of them standing up in surprise, as Ayden searched the guard. Grunting in irritation, she ripped off her helmet and threw it aside before taking off her night goggles, only leaving on her iron mask. She searched a bit further, then, finally, she found the keys and threw them at Elena, who instantly made her way over to the locks while Ayden stayed a bit behind, freeing her shoulder-length hair from the messy bun she'd had it in before taking off her iron mask.

"Who are you supposed to be?" said one of the prisoners.

Ayden looked down at him, feeling awkward. "Er... I'm—"

"Captain Shades," Elena blurted out.

"I'm sorry, what?" said another of the prisoners before he walked around and got on the main holding floor.

Ayden sent Elena a glare. "Seriously, Lena?"

"Love you too," she replied as Ayden joined her and helped her unlock the rest of the cells.

The prisoners got out of their cylinder cage cells and congregated in the area between.

"What, are we taking everybody?" asked a prisoner with pale russet skin.

"Well, I didn't exactly come for just one person," Ayden replied with a shrug. "A unit's a package deal." Then she turned to another man who looked a bit older and wiser and said, "Mister English man—"

"I'm from Scotland," the prisoner corrected her, flashing his dog tags.

"Er... right. Anyway, grab everybody else," Ayden instructed. "We're looking for Sergeant Gray... Damian Shostakovitch."

"Leave it to you to shorten the name," Elena muttered, receiving a glare from the latter girl.

"There's an isolation ward on the flat deck, but no word has ever come back from him," said another prisoner.

"Alright." Ayden cleared her throat as she began to walk again. "The tree line is northwest, it's about ninety yards past the gate, get out fast and give 'em all you got. I'll meet you guys in the clearing with anybody else I find."

"Wait!" called a dark-skinned prisoner. "You know what you're doin'?"

Ayden blinked, then gave him a lopsided grin. "Yes. Of course, I do. What would make you think otherwise?"

"You have no idea what you're doing, do ya?" Elena said, a small smirk on her face.

" _'Just smile and wave,'_ girl," Ayden muttered, as she brought out her scouter and hooked it to her left ear.

Elena gave her a disbelieving look. "So let me get this straight; you know _that_ , but you don't know  _Captain America_?!"

Ayden rolled her eyes at her. "You. Go with them to the rendezvous point."

Elena's look of disbelief did not waver. "You don't even know what my brother looks like!"

"I can guess he has the same big eyes and brows as you."

Ella rolled her eyes. "Out of the entire half year you've known me, what's the possibility of me actually going with them?" she challenged Ayden and kept stride.

Ayden looked at her for a long moment before sighing and shaking her head. "I'm guessing it's very a slim one."

Suddenly, she stopped and held up a hand to Elena; two enemy guards ran by, and Ayden kept them hidden in the shadows until they completely passed. She activated the scouter, cautiously glancing around for any enemy as the dark blue monocle extracted and covered her eye. When it was activated and fully functional, she used it to lead the way toward the isolation ward she was told of and turned it off as soon as they reached the lab, the monocle retracting back into the metal attachment, though she did not take it off. Ayden ran up to an experimentation table where she saw a young man, whom she assumed to be Elena's brother, laying there.

It was easy to say that beauty ran strongly through the Shostakovitch bloodline; despite his sickly pale and sunken appearance, Elena's brother was rather handsome, to say the least. The young man was muttering incoherently when the female duo approached him. To Ayden, he just looked crazy. But finally, he snapped out of it and looked up at his sister.

"Elena?!" he exclaimed as both, Elena and Ayden, helped him up.

Ayden quickly glanced around and noticed a map on the wall with a few marked parts, though she didn't look at it long as they had to get out of there as soon as possible, so she quickly stepped forward, closer to the older Shostakovitch and wrapped an arm around his waist as she put one of his around her shoulders.

"I thought you were dead," Elena said as she helped Ayden, who began to haul Damian out of the lab room.

"I thought you were  _home_. Who's this?" he asked when he finally noticed the girl who was pretty much carrying him out.

"Oh, this is—"

"The girl who survived an explosion, turned into a super soldier and will break both of your jaws if you two don't shut up," Ayden cut her off, glaring at the siblings.

Damian had a hard time focusing on what she was saying as the feeling as though his body was fighting itself overtook him. Though the second he heard the word 'explosion,' he snapped out of his reverie. "Explosion?" he gasped at her.

She gave him a plain look. "No, a walk in the park— yes, an explosion!" she huffed.

Elena sighed; there she goes with her SPD again. Damian looked over at the pretty brunette, though his eyes stayed locked upon her lips as though when she spoke, he would read something different than what she was actually saying.

"How are you here?" he asked, though it was clear the question was directed to his sister.

Elena rolled her eyes as she recharged her gun. "I joined the army, what do you think?"

"Did it hurt?" This time, the question was directed toward Ayden. Elena glanced her way as well, curious as she had only really found out about the whole thing less than twenty-four hours ago.

Ayden's jaw clenched as the memory of Marinescu dying in her arms made its way back into her head. "A pinch."

"Is it permanent?"

"Frankly, I hope not."

The three finally made it to the only route out of the self-destructing building. Elena gasped as she ran right into the rail. She made the mistake of looking down, and her stomach churned.

"Let's go."

Both Shostakovitch siblings looked at the Ayden as though she had gone insane.

Ayden noticed their look. "We have to, there's no other way out; the building's self-destruct mode has been activated. Must be an emergency feature in case there was ever an intruder."

"How do you know?"

Ayden tapped her scouter with an index; they hadn't realized she had reactivated it. They hesitated. "One at a time," she assured her as she helped Elena over the railing. "Don't worry, I've got your back."

Elena swallowed and felt her feet shake.  _бог, why did rescuing my brother have to end up in such a Captain America moment?_

She slowly started over the thin beam, her entire body quivering in fear. Halfway through, she nearly slipped, but caught herself and made it to the other side. She turned and saw her brother crossing, but the beam was starting to crack and break, so he jumped the rest of the way, grabbing onto the railing. Elena helped him over, then the two of them looked back, fear evident in their eyes as they saw Ayden now trapped on the other side. Things were starting to heat up around them, and the flames were getting hotter and taller.

Ayden swallowed hard; some part of her had always hated fire for some reason...

Elena leaned over the railing to yell back to Ayden. "Gotta get a rope or something!"

"I'll find another way, just go! Get out of here!" Ayden called back.

"No! I'm not leaving without you!" Elena shouted, wrapping her fingers around the railing, knuckles white. Damian suddenly shouted in surprise as a piece of the balcony they were standing on exploded. Elena looked back at her brother. "Go!" she yelled, "Get help!"

"What? No! I'm not leaving without  _you_!"

Ayden huffed, looking around at the rail and calculating eyes. Biting her lip, she suddenly took a step forward, put her hands on the rail and forced the metal bars out of the way before she backed up for a running start.

"And to think I've always disliked running; now I've gotta run for my life..." she muttered under her breath in slight disbelief. "Unbelievable."

Deciding to count to three, though knowing she would never count to then, after thinking the number 'one,' she ran and leaped over the vast fiery pit of death. Ayden slipped, almost falling, but she quickly grabbed onto a metal bar and pulled herself up with Damian and Elena's help.

To say that the one-o-sixth unit was filled with the most loyal soldiers ever would be an understatement; when Ayden, Damian, and Elena had finally made it out of the building which was on the verge of collapsing, they had all been outside, waiting by the trucks and tanks they scored. They were waiting for Ayden, the young girl they already looked upon as their leader now.

After leaving the campsite, "borrowing" a few things here and there before leaving, Ayden had been revealed a truth that only made her laugh for at least five minutes, only to calm down for three before laughing again.

Elena wasn't nineteen at all.

In fact, she was younger than Ayden, who had just turned sixteen that June; Elena was still fourteen. After laughing for a while, Ayden then realized something else:  _she couldn't find herself capable of staying still_ when she sat in one of the stolen trucks they were driving back toward their base, though she was quickly distracted.

"That was really stupid of you to do, Elena," Damian had been scolding his sister for the past half hour, Elena rolling her eyes and sighing in annoyance at each scold or glare she received from her brother, though inside, she was dying of happiness for being reunited with him and was extremely relieved to see that he was okay.

Although she was happy and relieved, he was seriously starting to get on her nerves with his over-protectiveness.

"Shut up!" she exclaimed. "I get it! I was reckless and stupid and shouldn't have let people believe that I was nineteen, but I saved your butt today. And I wasn't alone."

That was when Damian finally  _looked_  over at Ayden, who was now standing, getting ready to climb up to the front of the truck.

"Hey, Carmi, where are you going?" Elena asked, eying her curiously, as she too got up.

"Don't call me that," Ayden muttered, her voice as cold as it had been when she mentioned that her knowledge on planes came from video games.

"... Carmi?" Elena asked softly, ignoring her friend's demand.

Ayden bit her lip as she craned her head to glance at the direction they came from. "Their camp was at crossroads between these two mountain ranges at a factory of some kind... it's odd to find such in the wilderness."

Elena scrunched her eyebrows as she thought. "Now that you mention it, it does seem out of place."

"It  _is_  out of place," Ayden deadpanned, and they both shared a look, unreadable to the others, before shifting their gaze back toward the direction they came from.

The other soldiers stared at both girls in shock and awe.

"How old did she say she was?" one of them whispered so low, only the soldier sitting beside him could hear.

"I didn't," Ayden answered his question, not moving her gaze from the ambushed campsite disappearing from sight as they drove. "Maybe it wasn't their actual campsite," she wondered aloud. "Or maybe... maybe it was just not one of their main bases. The weapons were few, and so were their soldiers."

"How old is she?" another asked, watching the girl in awe.

"Sixteen," Ayden and Elena replied in unison, both still distracted. 

"How did you get in the army so young?"

Ayden snapped out of her calculating thoughts. "Falsified my file," she said, shrugging nonchalantly.

Her head snapped up toward the sky and, after a few seconds, she growled under her breath. "Shit, shit, shit!" She took off her camouflage-colored tactical vest, then began unzipping her dutch tank overall.

"What are you doing?!" Elena exclaimed, watching her friend in disbelief. "We're on the road with a bunch of guys! Now's not the time to—"

"I ain't stupid, kid! You really think I'd undress myself in front of men? Who do you think I am— Taylor Momsen?" Ayden snapped.

She slipped out of her coverall, revealing her perfectly fit body. She was now left wearing an all-black uniform, the tight black leggings running down her long legs like a bark down a tree trunk, the whole attire hugging every inch of her body, showing off all of her feminine curves, the only skin showing apart from her face, neck and collarbone being thus of her torso, which was revealed only due to her long-sleeved shirt being cropped. Apart from her dog tags and army pendant, hanging from a thin silver chain hooked around her delicate-looking neck was a black onyx pendant in the shape of a tiny guitar.

Taking off her Timbuk, she quickly zipped it open and fished out her grappling gun.

Elena gave her a disbelieving look. "And you didn't think of using that before?!"

Ayden huffed. "Not the time, Lena." Slipping her bag back on, she activated the gun. "Got your earpiece on?"

Elena frowned in confusion. "Yeah."

"Scouter out and activated?"

Elena was confused but activated her scouter, which she had put on when they left the campsite. "I do now. Why?"

Ayden gave her a wry grin. "You're going to be the tour guide," was all she said before she climbed out of the truck's bed.

Elena groaned. "I just had to become best friends with the most reckless girl ever, didn't I?" she muttered before making way to follow her, only to be stopped by her brother.

"Where do you think you're going?" he demanded.

"Didn't you hear? I'm a tour guide now." She tried to push past him again, but he only pulled her back.

"You're not going anywhere, Elena. You've put your life on the line a bit too much as it is," he snapped.

She glared at him. "You know, your lack of confidence in me is a little insulting," she said, quoting her best friend word for word. Sighing, she then added, " _Я буду в порядке, Дамиан. Я тренировался для этого в течение более полугода._ "  **(I'll be fine, Damian. I've trained for this for over half a year.)**  She could feel the others staring at them now, so she cleared her throat and continued in English. "Besides, I'm the only who knows how she rolls," she said, nodding the way Ayden left to. "And, trust me, it takes a hell lot to keep up with her, even before she became a female version of Captain Stars and Stripes."

Noticing the confused look on her brother's face, and thus on the other soldiers, she added, "Oh, that's my nickname for Captain America. Have you watched the movie, by the—"

"L!" Ayden's head popped into their view, upside down from the roof of the truck. "I'm kind of waitin' on ya here."

Elena jumped back, startled. She turned back to her brother and put on a scolding face. "Damian, how many times have I told you not to waste my time with all that non—"

"Oh, cut the crap, Elena, we all know you were gonna start talkin' about Cap'n America." That made the others snicker, and even Damian crack a smile. "Now, come on. We gotta hurry before they start shooting at us."

"Aye, aye, Cap'n," Elena replied, following after her, her brother right behind her. "What are you doing?" she demanded as she followed Ayden across the clothed roof of the moving truck.

"I'm not letting you go off on your own." That made Elena roll her eyes, though she did not object. She slid into the passenger seat, Damian following suite, while Ayden went to the driver's side and knocked on the window, startling the driver. Elena quickly rolled down his window so Ayden could speak.

"What's your name, soldier?"

"Anthony Turner."

Ayden nodded. "Alright, Annie. You think you good for leading chase?"

He stole a glance her way. "You askin' if I can race?"

"Sort of. The second I go up there—"

Elena's eyes widened. "Go where, Ayden?" she demanded, but the latter only ignored her.

"— a chase is gonna start, and I need someone to lead the rest of the unit to the rendezvous point Lena, and I made earlier."

"You're not going up there," Elena snapped stubbornly.

Ayden pursed her lips. "We're on our own, right now. And I need y'all to keep your focus on this, alright? I need you to be ready in case I don't manage to drive 'em all away from you."

"Ayden...."

" _Я буду в порядке, Лена_."  **(I'll be fine, Lena.)**  Elena's eyes widened in surprise, though Ayden only shrugged. "Andrew wasn't lying when he said this scouter's an all-purpose computer." She sighed again. "Anyway," she drawled out as she climbed back onto the roof of the truck, activating her earpiece, which automatically activated Elena's. "You hear me?"

Elena sighed. "Loud and clear."

"Good, our earpieces are connected to the iPhones Andrew gave us. Put yours on loud-speaker so Annie can hear me too."

"Way ahead of you, sister."

"And it's Anthony."

"I really don't care, right now." She huffed, pressing the button on the side of her scouter. "Alright, so listen up. I'm gonna scan the trucks and tanks we got and send you the main auditive data controls. Then, I'm gonna need you to take the chip and put it into the truck. By then, all are gonna be linked through the radio, and they're gonna be prepared for—"

"Wait, hold up, what the hell are you talking about?" Elena exclaimed herself, flailing her arms in panic.

Damian rolled his eyes. "Give me that," he muttered, snatching the phone from her hand.

"Hey!"

He ignored her. "D'you send the data?"

"Is this the brother?"

Damian rolled his eyes, though cracked a smile in spite of himself. "Yes. Did you?"

"Yeah. The chip needs to be inserted into the truck in order for all of them to be linked. There's one on the phone and one in the watch. There's even one in the scouter, but I need Lena on it."

Damian hummed, grabbing his sister's watch and prying the latch from behind open. "Got the chip. Where do I put it?"

"Find an entrance on the control panel that's small enough for it—"

"None of the entrances available match."

Ayden groaned. "Then get the connecting side of the chip wet and put it in any. The point is, it has to be connected. It doesn't matter where; the data just needs to be transferable."

"How is it going to—"

"It's a Carson chip. It has a mind of its own," she retorted sarcastically, although her statement was pretty much accurate.

"But won't wetting it electrocute—"

"Just do it!"

Quickly licking the chip, cringing slightly at its metallic taste, Damian put the chip in the smallest, thinnest port in the control panel, and they all waited. A little less than five seconds later, the control panel emitted a few electrocuting sparks before a few more lights lit up on it. There was a soft yet clear beep in both scouters, signaling it.

"Good job, Shostakovitch. Good. Now, Lena?"

"Yeah?"

"I need you to open the GPS on the phone and select the location we chose. Annie?"

"Anthony."

"Well, at least you're listening." Ayden swallowed hard. "On my signal, you lead this chicken run." She stretched over to the passenger side and pushed herself down a bit, so her face was visible in the window. Damian rolled it down. "You still cold?" she asked him, nodding to the dark red blanket he had over him.

He shook his head.

"I'm gonna need you to wave the drape out the window for a moment, so they know who to follow."

He nodded. "When?"

She held out a finger. "Lena put me on." Elena turned up the speaker of the radio. "This is Ayden, does everybody hear me?" She heard a couple of low, confused murmurs and groaned, glaring at Elena. "I hate you _so_ much right now." Elena simply gave her a cheeky grin as Ayden turned back to the radio. "Captain Shades," she grunted. She received a few chorused 'oh's and 'ah's in realization.

"Look, y'all are gonna have to embark yourselves into a chase— one where you'll be doing the running for your lives. You know, the usual stuff in this sorta habitat. I'm gonna try to give you a head start, but I need you all to be prepared either way. If you follow the truck from which y'all will shortly see a red drape flowing from the passenger window." She paused, looking over at Damian, who immediately waved the drape out the window the second she moved aside for him to do so. She moved back when he was done doing it for around ten seconds and continued her instructions. "Y'all saw that?"

She got a murmured confirmation.

Nodding, she breathed out. "Alright, well, this truck will lead you to the rendezvous point. Right now, however, I need y'all to start accelerating and preparing. On my signal, y'all go and follow this truck. Got it?"

She got quite a long chorus of "Got it!"s, "Yup!", a few "Oui!"s, and "Aye, Cap'n!"s.

Taking a deep breath, she rolled onto her back and squinted her right eye a bit; her left contact lens had fallen out, but, even so, her scouter was over her left eye, and was zooming in on her target perfectly, though it was a bit hard to focus what with the difference in eyesight. Bringing up the aiming lens of her grappling gun to her right eye, she aimed the hook, counted to three in her head, then shot. Perfect shot. Her eyes widened when she was beginning to be pulled up into the air, and she quickly fished out one of her handguns and shot at a tree before being hauled up into the air.

Anthony jumped slightly, startled at the sound of the gunshot. "Wait, was that the signal?"

"GO!" both Shostakovitch siblings shouted in unison.

Ayden never once imagined she would be jumping from one plane to another, killing enemy soldiers, even less that she would be in a war, yet there she was, fighting off some Tajik soldiers. She knew the Tajik, in general, weren't all as bad as most people made them out to be along with most of the Afghans, though she did not hesitate on shooting those she was facing since... well, they started it with her. She was glad she wasn't on it alone, though, and that her fellow soldiers were helping her from below. However, when she got to the last chopper, she knew there was no way they could help her now.

For one, she'd never flown a helicopter in a video game before, so she didn't even have an idea of how to operate a live one.

For two, there was an Afghan kid in there with her who had been held there against his will. She basically saved him, only to probably have him die with her if she didn't land the chopper.

For three, she accidentally broke the button that activates her parachute with her enhanced strength.

"Shit!"

" _Ayden? Is everything alright? Where are you now? I can't see you,_ " she heard Elena ask her into her earpiece.

"I'm up too high. Phone and watch are cracked, and my scouter's on the brink of breaking."

" _Dang._ "

"Yup. Did you know some soldiers could be real asses? Anyway, what's the story downstairs?"

" _The chase is almost over. We're nearing our spot._ "

Ayden nodded absentmindedly. "Alright, I'll... um... I'll try to swerve your way."

" ** _Try_** _? Swerve— Ayden what's the story up there?_ " Elena demanded.

"Er..." She glanced over at the boy. "I've got a kid in my hand, we're in a chopper, and my parachute's busted."

Elena groaned. " _Can you land it?_ "

Ayden swallowed hard. "It's a chopper."

Elena looked at the phone in disbelief. " _You flew a plane._ "

"I always passed my brother the remote when a chopper came up!" she said, quickly becoming defensive. "They reminded me too much of fruit choppers, and the last time I was near one, I almost lost a finger!" She shuddered slightly at the memory. Ayden then sighed as she stole a glance at the clearly terrified boy. She stumbled over to him and knelt before him. "Hey, kid. I'm gonna get you outta here, alright?"

He only stared back with glazed over, terrified and confused eyes; he didn't understand. Her scouter beeped, catching her attention.

 **Name: Aziz Nikbin**  
**Age: 10**  
**Nationality: Afghan**  
**Language: Dari**

Ayden blinked in surprise. "Brief, but it's something," she muttered, before looking at the boy. He spoke Dari... let's just hope what she learned from her brother's girlfriend will help her.

"Aziz?" The boy seemed to snap out of whatever reverie he was. " _Is that your name?_ " she asked. "Aziz?" He nodded slowly. "Okay, Aziz? Er...  _My name is Ayden. I'm going to get you out of here, okay? But I need you to come with me. Alright?_ "

The little boy looked into her eyes with fear in his own as he stared at her for a long moment before nodding. She sighed in relief before grabbing his hand and pulling him up and toward the control panel. She took off her tactical vest and put it on him as tight yet breathy as she could, before getting him to put on her backpack, strapping him in it for extra protection.

" _Ayden?!_ "

"I'm here."

" _Status?_ "

"Not so good. I may have to make the kid jump," Ayden replied, glancing down at the boy who was clinging to her arm.

" _You said your parachute was busted!_ "

"I can fix it for him."

" _For him?!_ "

"Elena, he's a ten-year-old boy who was taken against his will."

Elena's jaw clenched. " _Scan the chopper and send me the data. I can seek your coordinates, and find you a safe landing site_ ," she urged.

Ayden sighed. "The control's too busted for me to scan. And even if it weren't, my scouter would explode. I'm gonna have to force it down."

Elena huffed, cheeks flushed. " _Don't you dare— don't you dare do this to me, Ayden._ "

"I'm sorry, L," Ayden said softly as she grabbed the control stick. "But this has to be done."

" _Ayden... please, don't..._ " Elena barely managed to choke out.

Ayden didn't answer. Instead, she grabbed the boy into her arms, securing him with her body, placed her foot on the control stick and pushed it forward, forcing the chopper down. Where? She didn't know, but what she  _did_  know was that she was going to keep this little boy alive if that was the last thing she was going to do. She could feel her heart clench in anticipation as she heard Elena and a few other soldiers who had found out her actual name calling her out, while the boy buried his face in her chest, whimpering in fear.

" _I'm sor—_ "

The line went dead as Ayden's last words were interrupted by the chopper crashing. By the time it did, the chase was over, and Elena and the one-o-sixth were already pulling up to the center of the rendezvous point. But Elena didn't move. Not when the truck stopped, not when her brother called out her name. No. She kept staring at the slightly broken phone in her hand, unblinking.

When she finally blinked, she swallowed hard as a tear escaped her eye.

"Carmi..." Elena choked out, hoping it was just her phone malfunctioning.

Damian didn't say anything as he watched sadly his heartbroken little sister, who simply sat there, breathing heavily. He did not know what to do or say to make her feel better as he had never really had to do that; she was always a happy and cheerful little girl— it was rare to see her cry.

"Carmi?" she repeated, desperate to get an answer, either it'd be a grunt, a groan... anything would suffice as long as the sound came from her best friend. "Car— Ayden, please..."

She began to sob as no reply came, though she jumped, slightly startled when smoke began to fill the air. Her hopes rose as she looked up ahead. Could it be? Jumping out of the truck, she ran and ran, her brother and a few other soldiers in toe, until she reached a small clearing, where a recently crashed chopper lay in flames.

Her heart began to pound erratically when he heard a faint shout. Following it, she found a ten-year-old looking boy, balling his eyes out as he tugged on something. Jogging closer, Elena let out a gasp when she noticed what he was trying to pull out of the aircraft; there was Ayden, lying unconscious on the floor, a bloodied metal beam sticking out from her side.

Rushing forward, Elena grabbed onto Ayden and pulled her out of the chopper, falling onto the floor with the unconscious girl in her arms. She began to shake her, calling out her name, though the latter did not answer. Elena quickly ripped off a sleeve of her coverall and placed it over her wound the instant she ripped the metal beam out of Ayden's side.

"Ayden? Ayden! Come on, dammit. Wake up!"

Though it felt like an eternity, around seven minutes later, Ayden moaned and groaned in pain, her eyes tightening for a moment before finally fluttering open.

"Is it normal for me to crave a rainbow sherbet right now?" she muttered.

Elena looked at her for a moment before letting out a disbelieving laugh, throwing her arms around neck, practically squeezing the life out of her as she hugged her tightly. "You idiot! You bastard! You lying little— gah! You said you wouldn't pull one on me, but you did! I hate you so much!"

"I kind of guessed that by the way you're killing me," Ayden grunted, wincing in pain.

Elena gasped, immediately letting go. "I'm so sorry!"

Ayden chuckled, shaking her head. "S'alright. As long as you get me a rainbow sherbet when we get back, we're good," she told her as the boy ran over to her and hugged her, still clinging to her when she stumbled onto her feet. "Whoa, there, kiddo.  _Are you alright?_ " He nodded, bringing a small smile onto her lips.

"She speaks Afghan?" Elena mumbled.

"That's not even a language," Damian muttered.

"That was Persian... or Dari, if we're looking for correct terms." They both turned to look at Anthony, who simply raised his hands in surrender. "What? I'm just sayin'..."

"Captain!"

Ayden looked towards the call; a young Asian man, probably in his mid-twenties. It was a mess outside, trucks overturned, fires burning everywhere; they'd been followed there, she realized. She led Aziz through the wreckage towards the tree line, heart sinking at the evidence that the others might not have made it out okay.

"Huang Wu," he started by introducing himself.

The young Canadian nodded. "Ayden Jaubert." She glanced around. "Everyone okay?" she asked worriedly.

"There were some minor injuries during the escape. And the guards weren't exactly easy on the workers before. Many of the men have broken bones," he looked at Damian. "Your ribs were broken, if I'm not mistaken."

"I'm fine," Damian mumbled.

Ayden looked over at him and raised a brow. "You're  _fine_? You're pale and sunken, and I can bet my four guitars you feel like you look, dude— you are _not_ fine."

"Where's the rest of the cavalry?" another soldier asked, his voice coming out soft with a slight Scottish accent. "We've been looking around, but besides a few stray bad guys, we're not seeing anything."

Ayden bit her lip, hesitantly. "Uh, well. Actually, I'm it... well, Elena and I are it. I mean, it's just us."

Damian looked from her to his sister, then back to Ayden. "You came out here by yourself?" His voice had that low, dangerous edge to it that is always got when he was angry at his sister for doing something incredibly stupid.

"Not alone. Well..." She reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. "Ah, shit..." she muttered; the phone was in pieces, and her smart-watch and scouter weren't any better.

"What's all this, exactly?" the Scottish soldier, looking skeptically at the smashed gadgets.

"It's all supposed to call our ride back. I think they're broken."

Elena gave her a plain look. "Ya think?"

"What the hell is going on?" For someone almost asleep a while ago, Damian sure was yelling loudly now. "Where's the rest of the troops? What the heck is that? What is going on?"

Ayden sighed tiredly and shook her head. "Now isn't the best time. I'll tell you, okay? All of you. Everything. But, right now..." She groaned, then sighed, running a hand through her slightly tangled hair. "Right now, let's just be honest and realistic here: no one's coming for us. They think we're dead." She turned slightly to look over at Elena. "When we left, Colonel Doolittle was writing letters of condolences, remember?" Then she looked at the rest. "We're on our own, so, round up as much transportation as you can. Anything we can put the injured in. Scout for food and water. We've got weapons just in case. Anything we can use."

"A-are w-we m-moving out now?" a slightly scrawny redhead asked, his question coming out in a stutter.

Since she had no idea what his name was, and she knew that she probably wouldn't remember the next day as she was too tired from all the action and thinking, she sighed, deciding to call him Red.

Shaking her head, she said, "Not right now, Red." She looked at the other few who had rounded around her.

"We can wait till dawn," a dark-skinned soldier suggested.

Ayden nodded in agreement. "We can wait till then. Any able-bodied men need to be put on a watch rotation." She looked at the Scottish man. "What's your name?"

"Sergeant Curt Morris."

"Will you and... Huang?" she hesitated. She got a nod but decided something else either way. "You know what? I'll just call you Hugh. Can you two see everything set up?"

"Of course, Captain."

They'd had to abandon a few of the trucks and cars for malfunctioning, so they reserved most of the ones they'd kept for the injured, the rest of them going by foot. Ayden hadn't gotten exactly the chance to speak with Elena's brother since he'd been the one to have been separated from the rest too, probably, be tortured when they were still captive.

She had, however, gotten to meet many more soldiers of higher ranks such as Curt and Huang himself, whom she'd taken to calling him, Hugh. There was Ronald Fray, who had a bit of a stuttering problem and whom she'd taken to calling Red, and Anthony, whom she called Annie or Tony and wouldn't stop teasing when she noticed the lost puppy look he often got on his face when he was around Elena, and there was Daniel Lewis who preferred to be called Dan; she was surprised to find out that he was Marvin's childhood best friend. And then there was Chris Jameson, a young African-American soldier, who had a few Latino ancestors in his roots.

She had taken a liking to those six young men and found herself surprised by how trusting she felt toward them. Perhaps it was because they had made it clear that they trusted her with their lives since she saved them.

"You okay?" she asked Damian, finally pushing herself into talking to him; she had, after all, gone to save him, the rest of the unit was simply the rest of the package deal.

She handed him a canteen of water and sat beside him.

He took a drink before he answered. They'd been marching for two days, and he was exhausted. They were all exhausted, but they kept going. No one complained because they all knew they were lucky to be there. Being exhausted meant they were alive.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He screwed the cap back on the canteen and passed it back. "How about you? I don't think you've stopped moving since you broke us all out."

She took off the rogue helmet she snatched a while back and rubbed her hands over her face. "Yeah... I'm not tired. Haven't really been tired since the... change."

"Is that normal?"

She shrugged. "I guess. Yeah, it's normal. Increased stamina and endurance was all meant to be part of the package." She looked at him. "You get your bandages changed today?"

"Yeah. Gaudreault did it before we started this morning. He said they're looking good." Not that Damian would admit it if they weren't. A couple of the injured men had gotten infections, so last night Ayden and the others in her command group had discussed the possibility of raiding a town for medical supplies. Only problem was the nearest town would take them off course by about ten miles and delay their return to Allied territory. Plus, it'd put the entire group at risk with a low probability of success.

On the one hand, Ayden couldn't stand the idea of losing anyone. On the other, she didn't want to put the rest in danger.

They'd all discussed it long into the night, and no firm decision had been reached. Not yet.


	3. The End of a New Beginning

Ayden was stressed.

In the past couple of days, she'd only rested when forced by Elena or her command group. The rest of the time, she moved around, marching and visiting with different groups, trying to get to everyone. Everyone wanted to talk to her, hear the story of how she came storming in, with her little sidekick, single-handedly to rescue them all, but that's not it. She made them talk, too. Learned their names, their stories. She'd never had a fantastic memory, though now it showed otherwise. She'd be gone for hours, walking with the men at the back of the herd, and when she'd come back, she's able to greet everyone by name and rank. If someone seemed down, she reminded them of loved ones they've got waiting.

Then, there was also the fact that there was no possible way for over two hundred men to march in silence. Between the stomping of the men's feet and the rumble emitted from the engines of the vehicles they'd stolen, the noise was inevitable. That was a given. Ayden thanked their lucky stars that they hadn't been discovered by any patrols on their trek to camp. The moved slowly, they moved noisily, but they hadn't been caught.

The noise was inevitable, but she really wished they didn't have to add to it by singing.

Ayden didn't bother to find out what they were singing, but, each time they got to a certain part, she noticed, the men got louder. They'd sing it on repeat about a dozen times, and the trees would shake from the force of their shouts. Damian was the loudest of them all.

Ayden just sighed and smiled warily, tightening her arms around Aziz's legs, which were wrapped around her waist as he hung on her back; she had decided to give him a piggy-back ride for most of the trip as to not tire his short, ten-year-old legs. For the first time since the rescue, the tension lines were gone from Damian's face. Beneath the dirt and wariness, he looked happy. They all did. After days of marching and weeks of captivity, they were almost there. And the singing helped. They'd sing in French and Belgian, Dari and some other language Ayden could not recognize. They'd sing love songs and silly songs and bawdy songs, and the more they sang, the lighter of foot everyone got, and the happier Damian looked, Ayden noticed. There were many times Ayden was tempted to sing; music was in her blood from generations and generations back before her own, but she didn't. The last time she sang, it was a farewell song that explained that who she used to be was gone. Ever since, she hadn't sung and had avoided any music as much as she could, though, she couldn't begrudge her men the noise, even less Elena who had joined in on the singing.

"You look too serious, Ayden," she told her, slapping her on the back. "Lighten up a little. Sing."

Ayden hesitated, tempted, then simply shook her head. "I'll lighten up when we're safe."

It was a lie, and Elena knew it.

"We _are_ safe. We've got a mile at most, then we're back. You did it."

Her voice sounded hoarse, but her eyes were fever bright, and she had a kind of manic energy to her that Ayden recognized. It was the kind of high that a person got from pushing themselves too hard. When their body is close to giving out, but their mind is pushing them to keep going, just a little longer. Ayden recognized it because that was the look she'd had in her own eyes her whole life. There was no use saying anything, though. Elena was only pushing herself because she had to, for her brother, who was only doing the same for her. Because the alternative was climbing into one of the trucks with the sick and injured and being carried into camp. And Ayden knew neither would do that. Heck, she had a hole in her side, yet she knew she wasn't going to climb in either. Even Aziz, the little boy who was a bit injured and completely tired, stuck by her side, whether it was hanging from her back or not; she never knew stubbornness could be contagious. They all wanted to make it on their own two feet. They were going to.

_And after that..._

Ayden swallowed hard, then let out a shaky breath.

Damian noticed that. He seemed to notice her and everything about her, these past few days. He frowned. "What's wrong?"

Her eyes snapped his way, though she only stole a glance. "Nothing. Nothing, just, you know... tired."

Damian snorted. "Right. You don't get tired anymore, remember?"

She shook her head. "It's not that I don't get tired, it's just that it doesn't happen as easily as it used to."

"Don't change the subject." He didn't stop, but he slowed, eyes narrowed. "You got all pensive."

"Damian..."

"Ayden."

She took a deep breath and let it out. "I'm just worried about what'll happen when we get there. I'm going to be in a lot of trouble," she mumbled.

"You rescued..."

"Against orders. I'm in deep shit." She shrugged. "I have to submit myself for disciplinary action. I might get thrown in prison for the rest of the war. Heck, the rest of my life." She groaned. "And I don't think I'll be able to dodge it this time," she muttered to herself.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Damian rolled his eyes and veered off course, so he bumped into Ayden, knocking her with his shoulder. "You know, if you look up noble in the dictionary, your picture is right beside it."

"That, and self-sacrificing nitwit," Elena added, joining the pair.

Ayden could feel heat creeping over her face, as the back of Damian's hand brushed against hers. Neither of them has bathed for days, and Damian smelled of sweat and dirt, but it was starting to feel somewhat familiar to her, and she hated that, which only frustrated her as she wasn't one to hate. It curled through her, making her stomach tighten and warmth spread like waves through her. She looked at him from the corner of her eye, then quickly looked away before she could think any more and get a bigger migraine than she already had.

She looked down at her moving feet and frowned. "I've done so many wrong things before... now I just wanna do the right thing," she said softly.

Elena looked over at her and gave her a fond look. "You did do the right thing." Her fingers curled around hers, and she squeezed her hand slightly before dropping it. "And if those idiots can't see that, then... then I don't know how we're gonna win  _this_  war."

"Lena," she started to say, but she was cut off by one of the men they'd sent ahead crashing through the underbrush, whooping.

"We're here!" he hollered, waving his hat above his head. "Camp's right around the corner!"

Ayden and Elena's eyes met.

"Okay, I'm worried now," Elena admitted as they both picked up their pace.

Behind them, the men quieted down, the raucous singing giving way to quiet talking. Their footsteps changed from an offbeat shuffling to the more precise step of a march. Postures straightened. Weapons were cradled properly. Heads were held high. The march into camp, a unified army made of every Allie in the force brought together by captivity and united in the common cause of getting home. And they were.

Ayden, however, seemed to have changed her demeanor. She could feel the anger she'd felt before she'd left suddenly making its way back into her system, though she remained calm, even when Colonel Doolittle met her and the rest of the unit at the gate. While she still felt like he needed to be punched, she understood he was a superior officer, and she had disobeyed him.

Swallowing hard, she saluted him and said, "Some of these men, as well as this boy here, need medical attention. I'd also like to surrender myself for disciplinary action."

Elena frowned; she wasn't going to let her do this alone. "I, too, would like to surrender myself for same cause, Sir."

The Colonel glanced around at the group of men, both, the ones she brought back, and the ones cheering behind him.

"That won't be necessary," he said as if it pained him to admit it. But then he smiled. Well, really, his lips only twitched, but it twitched in what could easily pass off as a smile, no matter how tiny it was.

She smiled too, just a bit. "Yes, Sir."

The Colonel then turned to walk away from Ayden, though stopped for a moment when he noticed Andrew grinning widely and said, "Don't start with me, Carson," before walking off.

When the Colonel was gone, Andrew made his way over to Ayden, a stern look replacing the grin he was actually having a hard time fighting back.

He was about to scold her straight on, though stopped short when he noticed the boy clinging onto her for dear life, and he said, "You got a kid glued to your hip..." Ayden opened her mouth to speak, but Andrew cut her off. "But never mind that. You're late."

Ayden chuckled. "Yeah, sorry about that." She brought out the three broken gadgets that would've given her the possibility to contact him. "It's kinda hard to call a ride when the only possible ways to call are broken."

Andrew couldn't help but smile as he grabbed the girl and pulled her into a headlock. "Good job, Captain."

"I'm not a—"

"Hey!" Elena called loudly, from behind them, to catch everyone's attention. "Let's hear it for Captain Shades!"

Ayden turned around and looked at her as everyone started cheering and applauding. She met Elena's eyes, then simply shrugged one shoulder before smiling at her, shaking her head.

"You little bitch," Ayden said, her smile never faltering.

Elena grinned at her. "Language," she playfully scolded, before pulling her into a tight yet gentle embrace, making sure not to squash the child or break her best friend.

Ayden kept smiling as the rest of the men begin shouting her name. Elena was grinning at her a little maniacally, definitely strung out on too much stress and too little sleep. But she can see the pride in her eyes, too.

Around her, hundreds of men cheered for her, but there were only two who she cared about at that moment. Only two whose opinions really mattered.

And she glowed under their prideful eyes.

However, her glowing happiness faded a while later when Doolittle called her and Elena into his office. He was a bit off-put by the little boy who wouldn't let go of Ayden, but dismissed it either way and simply got to the point the moment the door closed.

"Twelve? Fifteen? Really?"

Ayden's cheeks flushed as she was so tempted to scoff and swear; hadn't they gone over this? Jaw clenched, she opted for remaining calm and diplomatic; she was in enough trouble as it was. "Actually, I'm sixteen, Colonel... as I told you before."

"I'm fourteen, Sir," Elena mumbled, clearly offended.

"All the same, you two enlisted while being underage. You should be kicked out, not only for that, but also for that little disciplinary act you pulled."

Both girls ducked their heads in embarrassment.

"Shostakovitch, you're dismissed. Jaubert, stay."

Elena's brows shot upward in surprise; he actually knows her name now? She glanced Ayden's way and only left when the latter sent her a nod to comply.

"Sir, I understand that what I did was—"

"Absolutely brilliant."

"Completely stupid— wait, what?" Ayden was confused.

Colonel Doolittle sighed. "Three things, Jaubert: you're too young to be here, you kept a hell lot of secrets from  _me_ , and you broke the rules to go on a mission that was not to take place. I should kick you out. I  _should_  kick Shostakovitch junior out— she's a freakin' fourteen-year-old in the army!"

Ayden's jaw clenched. Was he going to kick them out? Ugh! This was no better than just doing it in front of the others.

"I should kick you out," he repeated, but then something unexpected happened. Something that threw Ayden off-guard; his gaze turned soft. "I really should, but I won't."

Ayden looked at him, blinking owlishly, unsure if she heard what she thought she heard him say. "Y... you won't?" The question came out hoarse and slow.

His lips twitched. "One usually wins a war with guts; I'm saying that from experience. And you may be just a kid, you may be just a girl, but you got 'em. Not only that, you've got willpower, dependability, courage, decisiveness, endurance, you lack a bit of enthusiasm, but it's there. You've also got integrity—"

Ayden cut him off with a laugh; she couldn't help it. "Integrity? I'm sorry for my rude interruption, Sir, but how on earth do I have integrity? I basically lied to the whole board about my age and health."

"But you're being honest about it now, and that's good enough for me." The look she gave him was full of disbelief, but she did not speak again as he resumed his enumeration. "'Cause you've also got quite a good judgment, you're just, filled with a hell lot of knowledge for a kid your age— say, are you a prodigy back at your place?" Ayden felt her cheeks heat up as she fought the urge to duck her head at the laud. "Still and all, you've got tact and loyalty."

He cleared his throat. "Now, you may be wondering why the hell I just enumerated all that."

Ayden ducked her head once more, nodding almost timidly. "Sir."

"Well, first, know that _I_ 'm being honest with you. You are all those things, and possibly more, but, the reason I enumerated those specific traits is that those are the traits of a good soldier." Ayden felt warm inside. "You wanna know what else I see in you? I see worthiness, selflessness, the trust of many on your shoulders, faith, meek... you're a kind person, even if you try to show otherwise." Ayden's eyes snapped to his. "You're respectable and admirable, and that is a good leader, Jaubert. A great one."

He sighed. "I should really send you away, but we need good soldiers like you and Shostakovitch. We need a good leader like you."

Ayden throat went dry as she felt excitement beginning to bubble up in her chest. "What are you saying, sir?"

"I'm saying that I'm taking you and your friend under my wing, and I'll let you stay. I'll settle things down with the board so you can stay here. But I need you to do something for me."

Ayden's heart started pounding against her chest. "What?"

The Colonel's eyes twinkled with a new light in them. "You think you're up for putting those super soldier abilities of yours to use?"

Ayden's lips pursed as she thought. She was used to working alone— she was used to doing everything alone— being alone. But now, she knew people. They knew her. They felt like they owed her their life when she somehow felt like it was the other way around...

"Well, it depends... can I do that with a team?" she asked, hopeful.

"We're already putting together the best men."

Ayden's eyes twinkled. "With all due respect, Sir, I've already got a few men in mind I'd like to have on my team."

"Think you can gather one within less than two weeks?"

Ayden gave him a small smirk. "I think I can manage."

The Colonel gave her a tiny smile before nodding. "Good, but manage that later. You've got to see a doctor; there's a hole on your side."

Ayden's smirk turned into a sheepish smile. "Yes, Sir."

"And take that kid with you."

"Oh, shit— I mean, yes, Sir!"

It turned out the days' long march had been good for something after all. By the time they settled back down at camp, Damian was so exhausted that he didn't even notice all the medics and doctors who poked and prodded at him. He regained consciousness slowly. It was the good, slow, though, like waking up on Saturday morning, sun streaming in through the window after a restful sleep.

He reached up with both hands and rubbed his eyes. For the first time in forever, he felt clean. The sticky sweat and caked on dirt was off his skin. He didn't stink of fear.

"You awake?"

Damian opened his eyes and saw her there, sitting in a chair next to his bed, her feet propped up on the edge of the bed, a notebook balanced on her knees. His eyes squinted slightly as he  _really_  took her in for the first time.

She had a slightly tanned, olive complexion with a wealth of brown curly hair that was braided back and tossed to the side, falling just a few inches past her shoulder, unique bicolor eyes that were becoming familiar to him, and an oval face with fine bone structure. Her eyes were as large as those of a doe and were followed by a cute buttoned nose, quite prominent cheekbones, and full pink lips. Her eyebrows were darker than her hair and were straighter than they were arched. She wore a long-sleeved black shirt, paired up with a pair of khaki cargo pants, a small sleeveless military vest, and a jacket which was draped over the back of the chair she occupied; she wore a loose tie, too, though it was almost comical as it didn't really go with her attire, never mind both being of military colors.

"Am I dead?" he blurted out.

She looked up from her notebook she had been writing in and raised an brow at him. "No."

"... Are you sure I'm not—"

"You're not. I wouldn't be here if you were," she replied before turning her attention back to her notes.

"You look a hell lot like an angel, so I don't doubt you'd be there," he mumbled.

She looked back at him and bit her lip, chuckling. "You're not dead." She moved forward and gave him a tiny, gentle pinch in the arm. "See? Not dead."

Her smile was small, yet soft and genuine, and made the corners of her eyes wrinkle.

Damian shook his head as he sat up. "So I'm not." He paused. "How long have you been sitting there watching me?"

She chuckled. "Don't flatter yourself; I haven't been watching you. I've got more interesting things to be worried about," she said. She dropped her legs from the bed and leaned forward. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I just marched two hundred miles." He saw a glass of water next to his bed and grabbed it. He looked around as he drained it, the cool liquid soothing the sore parched desert of his throat. He was in a hospital. "How long have I been asleep?"

"On and off for five days. You woke up to eat and stuff, but you weren't exactly coherent."

He winced. "Did I say anything embarrassing?"

Ayden chuckled. "You're clear."

Damian flopped back. His back protested at the jarring movement, but it was just sore muscles, nothing serious. "My sister?"

"Right beside you." He looked to his left, and, sure enough, there was his sister, head on the bed as she slept in an uncomfortable position in her chair. "I tried to get her to move, but she wouldn't budge. Girl sleeps like a rock."

"Oh, trust me, I know."

"Right, so how are you  _really_  feeling?"

He looked at her for a moment, the sighed.

"Fine," he lied. She raised her eyebrows; he was easy to read as Elena. "Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" he said with a smart smile.

She rolled her eyes, internally groaning. She hated when people flirted with her.

Ayden looked back up at him and gave him a tight smile. "Are you  _sure_  you're feeling okay?" she repeated in a sweet, innocent voice.

"Yeah," Damian repeated curiously.

"Good." Ayden stood up, took his wrist, pressed an elbow to the back of his neck and twisted his arm behind him.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, but his body had no choice but to give into her assault.

Ayden leaned in close to whisper in her ear, "Flirt with me again, and I will not hesitate to kill you, never mind that you're Elena's brother and the whole point of the mission was to rescue _you_. I'm no  _dancer_ , okay? I'm a damn soldier. Got it, Sergeant?"

Damian swallowed hard and nodded. "Got it," he gasped.

"Good." She released him as she made her way to the exit, Damian watching her every step. "Oh, and tell Elena I'll be 'round the corner."

As she disappeared from his sight, Damian couldn't help but groan as he flopped back onto the bed. "I am so screwed."

"Y'got that right; hands off my best friend."

Damian turned to see his sister glaring at him. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

She scoffed. "Please, don't think I didn't catch you staring at her throughout the whole way back to camp since we got you. And seriously? 'You look a hell lot like an angel'? That's gotta be the lamest thing you've told a gal,  _брат_."  **(Brother)**

"Can you blame me? I thought I was dead," he mumbled, running a hand over his face.

"Well, you're not, so snap out of it," she grumbled, before speaking in a softer tone. "I'm glad you're alright."

He gave his sister a small smile, reaching for her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Well, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you."

She looked at him for a moment before laughing, shaking her head. "You know, I may be reckless, but if it weren't for  _Ayden_ , you wouldn't be here safe; I wouldn't have dared myself to go to your rescue, even if you are my favorite brother."

"I'm your only brother."

"Favorite sibling."

"I am your only sibling."

"Technically you're my only full sibling." Elena sighed. "I'm not brave like her."

Damian looked at her for a moment before saying, "Tell me about her."

Elena furrowed her brows as she looked up at the ceiling, thinking. "Ayden... well, I know you noticed how it seems like she has some sort of split personality... and maybe she does— I mean, when we went to rescue you and the rest of the unit, there were times when she would be lighthearted and teasing, but, at other times, she would be so cold and... worn out."

Her gaze shifted down to her hand in her brother's. "If I'm totally honest with you, she's my idol, even if she's only 'bout a year and a few months older than me. She's really awesome to be around with once you get to know her, but, when you don't, she comes off as a mature young woman— which she totally is, by the way. She's more than often quiet, and I can tell she's overly insecure, even with her new looks... but, that aside, she's possibly the most kindhearted, compassionate and caring person I've ever met and known. And that's what makes her a good person."

_"When you lose someone... that loss... it stays with you. You can love someone so much... but you can never love people as much as you can miss them. I know what it's like, okay?"_

Elena's heart suddenly clenched as she remembered when Ayden told her that. The look on the brunette's lovely face was melancholic and her eyes.... once again, Elena was struck by the age-old wariness in her once deep brown hues. Eyes that have seen too much. Elena has only seen that look in some older soldiers and, sometimes, her grandfathers, who were both war veterans. But never in someone as young as Ayden, a girl who wished to be all-powerful to keep everyone from getting hurt in any way.

Oh, Ayden…

_"I **should** be! And someday, I **will** be. I promise you! I will even learn to stop people from dying!"_

"She's a good person," Elena continued softly, her eyes suddenly sad as she remembered how broken Ayden had looked then. "She's undoubtedly endured a hell lot of temptations— suffered a lot, but her heart... her heart is _pure_."

_"I should have been out with him! I'd have had his back— we would've made it out together, and he would've been here alive!"_

"She accepts and puts other people's feelings before her own. She always makes good assumptions on how those feelings would turn out in any situation, and instantly jumps in on any occasion presented to try and change it so that no one suffers as badly as she surely has in the past."

_"It's as painful as hell— I don't want you going through that, Lena."_

"I mean, she planned the whole rescue mission to save you and the rest of the one-o-sixth!" Elena chuckled, pushing a rogue strand of hair away from her face. "The thing that just makes me laugh, sometimes, is how selfish she thinks she is when she's actually selfless, and that only makes me idolize her even more for that. I don't know her past. She might have been tortured, mistreated, bullied— I don't know. All I know is that she's broken to the core, yet she doesn't let that bring her down. She uses that as her trigger to push herself forward and save other people's lives." Elena smiled. "She's incredibly exceptional. _Extraordinary_... She's a _survivor_. And you know what?"

"What?"

Her smile never faltered as she turned to look at her brother. "When we got you at the lab, she saw a map. She reproduced most of it, but not all. It showed all... well, most of the hidden weapon facilities of Al-Qaeda. But that's not the point." Her eyes twinkled. "She's got a mission coming up. She's gonna go after them. The Colonel's hoping that, if we get enough of them, we'll manage to find the main base and finally bring it down."

"So, basically, what you're telling me is that you're excited that your best friend is putting her life on the line again when, just a few days ago, you balled your eyes out when you thought she was dead?"

"No! Stop twisting my words! What I'm sayin' is that the whole Cap'n Shades thing I came up with is actually front line now; he wants her to lead a team. And she's already choosing her teammates. So far, she's got Marvin—"

"Who the heck is Marvin?"

She ignored his interruption, and continued. "She's got good ol' Dan... er... that other guy who led the race— Annie? Anyway, then she's got Ronnie, who doesn't really know how to say no to a lady. She's thinkin' of askin' the Scottish guy, oh! And that guy she calls Hugh. And then that Chris guy..."

"You're not going."

"Wha— I didn't even say—"

"You didn't have to. You and I both know you would've gone anyway, even if she told you not to."

"Well, you know what? Too bad for you because I  _am_  going, whether you two like it or not."

"Lena, you shouldn't even be here; you're only fourte—"

"So what?" she snapped. "Carmi was only fifteen when she enlisted and got drafted. She's sixteen now, but that's only because she just turned it a few months ago. I'm going."

"Elena—"

"I'm going."

"El—"

"No."

"Elena Gracelyn Mirelle Shostakovitch, you will not be going on this mission, and that is final!"

"No! You wanna know what's final? Your arguments, because I  _am_  going. Okay? I'm going because I am indebted to her. She helped me save you, Damian. If she hadn't gone, I wouldn't have gone, and you would've been dead! So, whatever you have against me going, well, guess what— I don't care because, even though she probably doesn't know, I made an oath to her from the start, and I'm not backing out on it. I decided to stick by her side from the beginning, and I'm sticking by it for the long haul, Damian."

Damian watched her with squinted eyes and pursed lips throughout her whole speech and stayed silent for a few more seconds before saying, "I'll go with you."

"I already told I'm g—" Elena stopped short, blinking owlishly. "Wait, what?"

Damian sighed. "I said I'll go too."

Elena stared at him for a moment, then snorted. "Good luck asking Ayden to let you on the team."

Damian shrugged. "No,  _you_ , good luck. I don't need it."

Elena laughed. "Oh, you're gonna need it with her. You flirted with her. Now, she may not be one to hate, but I know she does not like it when guys do that. I, on the other hand, will be let on without an ounce of hesitation."

"Really."

"Well... maybe not an ounce, but she  _will_  let me. All I have to do is bat my eyelashes and give her the puppy eyes; it'll be much more effective now that she knows my real age."

"Or much  _less_  effective because of it. She let you in on the rescue because she thought you were old enough to look after yourself."

Elena only smiled, shaking her head. "You don't know what, or how she thinks." She stood. "Anyway, brother, rest. You'll be checked out with the others later this afternoon, alright? I'll see you then."

* * *

_Jamie sighed and slowly turned his head. "I told you, Dad, I'm..." he trailed off when he noticed that his father wasn't the one standing there. "Ayden."_

_Her lips twitched in an attempt to smile, though it only came out as a grimace. "I thought I was Ayden," she joked half-heartedly._

_He cracked a smile. "You're here."_

_"I couldn't let you leave without saying goodbye, now, could I?" she said softly, walking forward toward his bed._

_He chuckled. "I guess not." His eyes shifted toward the encased instrument hanging from her shoulder, and his brows instantly raised in surprise. "You brought it out?" he asked softly._

_She cracked a smile at his innocent face. "Only for you."_

_He leaned back against his pillows. "Can you sing me something?"_

_She hesitated for a moment before nodding and bringing her guitar out. After making sure it was tuned, she sat on the edge of the bed beside him and began to play a soft melody on her acoustic guitar before singing to him, pouring her heart and soul into the lyrics the flowed out through her lips. When she finished, he saw the look on her face and felt his own heart break even more._

_"Ayden..." he said softly. She only shook her head, pushing him into pulling her into his arms in a cold yet warm embrace. She pushed her guitar aside and returned the gesture, though ever so gently as though she were afraid he might break and, at this point, it was hard not to imagine that happening._

_"You're going to have to eventually, you know."_

_She shook her head, holding him a little tighter. "No, Jamie. I... I can't—"_

_"I'm not asking you to forget me. I'm just asking you to stay strong and move on," he said softly._

_She shook her head again, letting out a small, heartbreaking laugh. "I'll never be able to move on, Jamie..." she managed to choke out through her constricted throat._

_Beep— Beep— Beep—_

_He caressed her face which was pressed against his chest; she was warm in comparison to his cold body, and that made her shiver slightly as he ran his fingers against her cheek._

_"I love you," he whispered._

_She looked up at him, eyes watering. "Please don't leave me, Jamie," she croaked._

_His breathing was becoming harder, and that made her instantly loosen her grip around him. "I... I can't... I can't promise... you anything anymore... Ayden, and... for that, I am so sorry."_

_Her brows furrowed, eyes only widening in realization when she heard the heart monitor slowing down. She shook her head, a few tears betraying her._

_"Please... please, James... Please, I need you... I need you now, more than ever."_

_"Stay... strong..." His breath came out slow, and the monitor was silent._

_Her breathing hitched as she watched him close his eyes, his arms falling from around her. "No... James... Jamie? Please... open your eyes... wake up!" She shook him, not wanting to believe— to accept that he was gone. "Please! Wake up!"_

_Jamie's father instantly walked over to her as his wife went off with the nurse to call the doctor._

_"Somebody! Please! Bring him—"_

_"Carmen, let him go—"_

_"No!" she cried out as Reverend Grenadier placed his hands on her shoulders. She shook him off. "No! He can't... he can't— he promised! Jamie! Please! Come back!"_

* * *

She stared out the window; it was raining. She watched people run for cover and umbrellas open as the clouds dropped their tubs of water. Puddles were plinking as the rainfall became heavier. Her attention never wavered from the murmuring of the rain through the window, not even when her eyes fluttered as a tear went rogue from the bucket that was threatening to spill, as the soft murmur was the only thing, at that moment, that could keep her from losing her mind.

 _I'm not asking you to forget me. I'm just asking you to stay strong and move on_ , he told her.  _I love you_ , he said a few seconds later. How could she move on from someone who understood her so well? Who loved her as she was— broken and bruised? Then there was the fact that she never got to tell him... and now he's gone... she knew she would  _never_  be able to tell it to anyone else; when he died, the words died in her throat along with him.

"Yo, Ayden!"

Finally tearing her attention away from the window, she turned, eyes meeting the person who was calling her out. It was Anthony. His arm was in a sling, forehead wrapped in gauze, but, other than that, he was fresh and clean.

"Yeah?"

"That Carson guy with a bunch of inventions?" Ayden nodded. "He came around a few moments ago. Said that when we see you, to tell you to meet him back at camp, in his office."

Ayden frowned. "Did he say what for?"

"He said he had some new gadgets for you."

"Oh. Er... okay, thanks."

"It's o-seven-thirty. He said it'd be best if you got there by o-eight-hundred, so I suggest you leave now if you don't wanna be late."

She gave him a small appreciative smile. "Right. Thanks."

A speck of doubt grew to a gnawing sensation on her shoulders by the time she made it Andrew's working office. Here she thought she would be late, and Andrew wasn't even there.

 _Great, now he's got secretaries_ , she thought to herself, mentally rolling her eyes at how lazy the inventor was becoming.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for Mr. Carson," she politely told the lady at the desk, who was distracted by the morning paper.

Ayden wanted to laugh; sure, the raven-haired Private was a pretty young woman, probably in her early twenties, but, even sitting down, she was visibly short. However, she remained calm and quiet as she waited for her answer; she did not like to be rude, even though her thoughts were rude enough.

The raven-haired lady— Pvt. Jeannette was written on her name tag— did not look up, which was actually rude, but at least she answered.

"He's in with Colonel Doolittle," she replied carelessly, but when she looked up to see who it was, her attitude instantly got friendlier, "Of course, you're welcome to wait."

Ayden blinked owlishly, unsure of how to react to the lady's change of demeanor. Something about her smile made her feel a bit uneasy. It was only a polite smile, but it looked more devious than that. Maybe it was just all in her mind, Ayden thought as she quietly sat down on the free chair beside the desk, placing her hands in her lap, looking around to avoid eye contact.

"I... uh, read about what you did," said Pvt. Jeannette, that sinister smile of hers never wavering as she spun around in her chair and flashed the newspaper with Ayden's big rescue mission plastered all over the front page.

Ayden fought back a frown; she'd been told about hers and Elena's age being kept out of the press and a secret, but, for some reason, some part of her was now actually against that. Some part of her now wanted the world to know that she was only sixteen.

"Oh, that... yeah... well, that's..." Ayden fumbled her fingers and her words, unable to concentrate with this woman staring so intently at her like that. "... just doing what needed to be done."

"Sounded like more than that," Pvt. Jeannette nearly purred. "You saved nearly three hundred men... maybe even more."

Ayden simply smiled, feeling awkward and a bit nervous, her cheeks flushing faintly, as she thought she saw the Private looking her up and down, with... interest?

_Oh, God, please no..._

Ayden let out a nervous chuckle. "Really, it's not a big deal." She waved her hand. If Elena's brother hadn't been among the captured, she probably wouldn't have gotten involved in the first place... okay, maybe she would've, but, well, let's just say Damian was more of the main trigger in the entire operation.

"Tell that to their wives and their families." Pvt. Jeannette slowly pulled out of her chair and walked coyly towards her. Now Ayden knew she didn't imagine things. She still wasn't used to this kind of attention from men, so getting it from a woman was even more unexpected and nerve-wrecking.

Ayden tucked her arms and clenched her body together uncomfortably. "Uh... I don't think they were all married. Most of them were probably less than twenty-five."

"You're a hero," Pvt. Jeannette whispered softly in her face, close enough for a whiff of her sickly sweet perfume to tingle Ayden's senses and paralyze her.

_God, please tell me this isn't happening..._

"Well, th-that depends on how—"

"Your fellow women of America... and, well, many other countries of course; they owe you their thanks." Pvt. Jeannette clutched onto Ayden's tie and pulled her to behind the shelf of files, "And since they're not here..."

Even when she had approached her, Ayden still hadn't expected that kiss. It was most certainly not the friendly kiss on the cheek she could handle, or the quick endearing kiss on the lips. It was the passionate kiss of wanting, and the red alerts in Ayden's head screamed for her to pull away and get out of there, but she was paralyzed; she had never been stuck in a situation where she found out she was attractive to people of her same gender, even less stuck with one who was daring enough to kiss her. Plus there was the fact that Ayden wasn't asexual. She was straight, and she had never even been kissed before... well, unless you count the smooch she shared with her first crush when she was only six... Even with her first boyfriend, they never got to kiss— he was taken to prison before their lips could even touch. And Jamie? She hadn't been with him long enough to feel ready to kiss him. Now, here she was, eyes as wide as a deer who'd been caught in headlights, paralyzed as she was having her first kiss stolen by a woman who was probably more than four years older than her. Mind you, she was very pretty, but  _Ayden was straight_. And she wanted it to end, but she couldn't just push this woman away; she would probably end up throwing her through a wall with her enhanced strength.

Before she could gather her thoughts and push Pvt. Jeannette off, she heard a familiar stern call, "Captain!"

It was Clarissa Dalton. She had started out a soldier as well, with Ayden, though she quickly switched to nurse the moment they were shipped off to Kabul. She  _really_ was nineteen, and a good friend, though when they left their continent, they saw less of each other when they got their orders.

The moment Ayden saw her there, she was relieved and grateful for her interrupting call, but judging from Clara's hands on her hips and her reprimanding glare, Ayden was horrified that she might have gotten the wrong idea.

"We're ready for you if you're not otherwise busy," she said with disdain that made Ayden panic internally.

After rubbing the kiss off of her lips, trying not to look disgusted fore it would be rude, she went after her friend, hoping to explain everything, "Clarissa, wait!"

"It's not my business," Clara said curtly as she refused to face her.

She kept marching forward as she processed what she saw. Here she thought Ayden was the purest, most straight young woman she knew, and if she didn't act on her impulses with her, then those impulses must not have existed if that floozy Jeanette was more tempting. Her anger and confusion seethed and flushed her cheeks.

"Clarissa, that is  _not_  what you think it was," Ayden spoke quietly as she paced behind her, trying to keep up.

"I don't think anything, Carmen," Clara shot her down. She had nothing to say to her right now. "You said you wanted to join the army, and now here you are. Wish came true."

Ayden chuckled humorlessly, shaking her head. "I know what you're thinking, and, let me just tell you: you got the wrong idea. This wasn't like Katy Perry's 'I kissed a girl, and I liked it' song, okay? I didn't like it. This lady, who is probably over five years older than me, came onto  _me_. And I am freaking out right now, Clara, because I just had my first kiss stolen by a girl. A  _woman. Female. Femme. Mujer_. The same freakin' gender as me, and I have never felt more uncomfortable and violated in my entire life!" Ayden breathed out.

Clara stared at her with wide eyes the entire time Ayden spoke. When she was done, she pulled her into a hug. "Oh, my poor baby."

Ayden groaned childishly, slight defeat laced upon her face and tone. "Just because I'm sixteen, it doesn't mean I'm a baby."

"You are to me."

"As far as you knew a few weeks ago, I was older than you."

"Not anymore."

"Alright, Cap, I got a lot of things I want to—" Andrew walked up right next to Ayden and cocked his head when he saw her in Clara's arms, eyes watery. "Hey, doll face, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, Andrew," She jolted when she saw he was there and pulled out of Clara hold, putting on a fake smile, "It's just a minor migraine."

He sighed. "Ayden, if something's going on, you can tell me." He waved his arm around, "There are no judgments here."

Clara opened her mouth to speak, but instantly shut it when she noticed Ayden's glare. "Don't even think about it."

"You know what would make you feel better?" Andrew said loudly.

Ayden groaned silently; she knew that whatever he was going to suggest was only going to annoy her. "What, Carson?"

"I know this perfect place, not far from camp, where they make the best fondues."

Ayden gave him a flat look. "Again, Andrew, no. And I don't even like cheese."

"That's a lie, and you know it," he said as he led her into his office. "You love cheese— you eat cheesecake to the point where it wouldn't be healthy anymore."

Ayden huffed. "That's because it's cake," she said.

"But the fondue is so—"

"No, Andrew."

"But I—"

"No."

"Ayden—"

"No, now show me your stupid gadgets already."

"They're not stupid! They're awesome. And they're awesome because I—"

"Because you're a genius. Got it. Go."

"By the way, I have some ideas for your uniform."

Ayden sighed. "Does it involve tight pants and cropped tops?"

"... Maybe?"

She sighed again. "God, Andrew, you will be the death of me."

"... That's a good thing, right?"


	4. In it for the long haul...

The Feral Force was created within less than a week. Its main soldiers were Ronald Fray or Red as Ayden chose to call him; Anthony Turner, who Ayden had taken on calling him Annie, much to his dismay; Marvin Jones, one of the first soldiers Ayden and Elena had met at the camp and instantly acquainted; Daniel Lewis, or Dan, who so happened to be Marvin's best pal since they were both toddlers; Curt Morris... or the "Scottish Guy"; Chris Jameson; and Huang Wu, whom Ayden called Hugh as not to mess up his actual name. And well, naturally, Ayden was on the team as she was the leader.

When she had finally assembled the team she wanted, with a few extra soldiers whom she evaluated herself to make her unit larger, that was the moment Elena chose to step forward and asked to be in. It took almost the entire week to convince Ayden, but Elena managed, much to Ayden's clear disapproval of the idea of dragging someone younger than herself into the whole operation.

* * *

_"Elena...."_

_"No, Ayden. I already told you: I'm going."_

_"You're seriously ready to follow 'Captain Shades' into the River Styx?"_

_"Oh, no," she said quickly, but then she laughed. "The previously chubby sick girl from Canada who saved my ass from those other bullying soldiers on our first day at camp? She's the one I'm ready to follow and stick by her side for the long haul."_

_Ayden fought back a smile. "You're impossible."_

_Elena grinned. "You love me."_

_"I would love to stab you."_

_"You love me too much to do that."_

* * *

Damian actually had a harder time than he thought he would, though that was his own fault for continuously flirting with her and asking her out at every given moment, which was practically every time she was with Elena and he so  _coincidentally_  happened to be there.

In other words: all the time.

* * *

_"Why won't you let me?"_

_"Why should I?"_

_"If you won't let me, then... will you at least go out with me?"_

_"No!"_

* * *

The relationship between the pair had actually started out rather tolerable and understanding, but with him constantly nagging her, it became volatile. Ayden usually had a good control over her temper, though it was becoming more and more impossible with the older Shostakovitch, which was one of the main reasons she didn't want to have him on her team. She didn't doubt he was a good soldier; he wouldn't have survived whatever had been done to him if he wasn't, but she didn't want to have someone distracting her all the time, even less someone who clearly got jealous every time she was alone with the pervy inventor, or any other man for that matter.

Of course, she wasn't aware of it being jealousy, even less of his interest in her being genuine, but she waved it off nonetheless and dismissed him with a cold shoulder. Eventually, he managed to hit a soft spot when she asked him again why she should let him on the team.

* * *

_Give me one good reason as to why I should let you in on this."_

_"I'll give you three, Carmen." Her jaw clenched, but she kept her head up high, nonetheless. "First off..." He sighed. "I just want to look out for my sister, okay? She may act tough at times, and even impassive... but the girl cries when she sees an old man crossing the street." Ayden's eyes softened for the first time as they gazed up into his. "I haven't been there for her lately, for obvious reasons," he motioned around them, "but I want to change that. I want to be a good brother and protect her like I used to."_

_Ayden's heart clenched. She wanted to cry, but she held it in. "Reason number two?"_

_"Well, I'm a far better sniper than Elena, and anyone else on the team." He paused for a moment, brows furrowing. "And... what they did to me at the lab."_

_Ayden's attention shot upward; was he really trusting her that much to tell her what happened to him?_

_"They... they did that to me because I came across a handful of intel that could help bring them down." He looked her straight in the eye, fighting back the dreamy look that was threatening to take over his face. "Things that could help the team on this mission."_

_Ayden pursed her lips as she looked at him for a long moment, brows furrowed. Finally, she nodded. "Okay, you've convinced me."_

_He smiled, but that soon turned into a smirk that made her insides churn. "Any way I can convince you to go out with me?"_

_Ayden groaned as she began walking towards Doolittle's office. "I'm letting you on the team, just don't go falling in love with me," she warned, a joking edge to her tone, though it was clear she was dead serious._

_She paused for a moment, then added, "And you gotta stop asking me out."_

_Damian nodded, following her. "Alright." He paused. "Go out with me."_

_"What did I just tell you?!"_

_He shrugged nonchalantly. "You told me to stop asking, so I demanded."_

_Ayden stopped short and looked back at him. She huffed, then resumed her walk. "God, you Shostakovitch kids are gonna be the death of me," she grumbled_.

* * *

The mission was a worldwide journey. Their enemy's had bases in various parts of America, and no one ever knew about them, though there were only a few, so that was where they began. As action-filled as the missions were, the Feral Force soared through each and every one of them rather smoothly, though it wasn't so until after the first bases they took down. They were rather nervous when they began, what with the way Ayden proceeded; she would literally walk up to the front door after knocking out the guarding troops.

* * *

_"Are you insane?! What do you think you're doing?!"_

_"Relax, Chris, she knows what she's doing."_

_"A-are y-you s-sure?"_

_"Yes, Red, trust me, I would know." Pause. "Wait... you do know what you're doing, right?"_

_"Yes. Of course, I do. What would make you think otherwise?"_

* * *

The best days came after the third base; Captain Jaubert and the Feral Force would just storm into a building with machine guns and take out all the henchmen inside and blow the place to smithereens. They were made even better when they captured someone higher on their enemy's ladder. They often proudly boasted that would never talk, but once Ayden knocked their cyanide capsules out of their mouths, which still quite shocked her for even existing, their confidence dissipated along with their once chance at a quick death. She loved when she got to kick them to their knees in front of all the people they'd hurt. It showed them that they were not all-powerful, and there was no immunity for their cruel actions. Often times, it inspired men and women to fight back against their attackers, now that they knew they had a chance to win. Many of their missions went like this, but they were not always so lucky. Especially not on their before last mission in America.

They were in a plane, flying through a storm. A few of the Feral Force soldiers had to get ready to jump to attack on land while the rest stayed in the air, though the attack started sooner, far before they reached the island they were heading toward. Their plane was shot and Elena had fallen into the ocean. Even though Ayden would never say it out loud, even less, admit it, everyone knew Elena had come to mean the world to her, and that was very much clear when she tore off her backpack, threw it aside, then jumped.

Ayden had never been afraid of heights; it was falling she was afraid of, but, at that moment. she knew she had to push past that fear in order to save Elena. Ayden would have done it for anyone; a soldier is never left behind; but this was Elena, and, even though Ayden never said it out loud, Elena was her best friend. Of course, she was no replacement— there was no way Elena or anyone could replace the spot Leonard had taken in her heart. But Elena earned her own spot. She earned her own little house in Ayden's heart, and she was not going to let the younger girl die if she could help it.

She spiraled like a gymnast as she soared down the air, straightening her body, legs shut together, arms forward as she dived into the freezing salt sea water.

Ayden had never been more scared.

She knew how to swim... but, back in high school, whenever she'd had a swimming class, she would never swim as long as the others due to her previously being asthmatic. There was that, and there was also the fact that she had once almost drowned, and it hadn't even been for the lack of air; her muscles had locked when she had reached the deepest part of the pool. Then, there was the storm. She was four when she began fearing the idea of being in the ocean through a storm. She was with her mother, brother, and her father, and they were traveling by ship for the very first time. She loved ships, back then, as many of them reminded her of the many stories her mother would read to her before bed. But then, there was a storm. The ship sank, and thankfully, everyone survived, but, ever since, she never liked the idea of being near deep water while a storm was going on, not only because of the trauma she had lived but also because it only reminded her of the last time she had had a real family. The last time her brother, her mother, and her father had held her in their arms...

The last time they had told her they loved her.

She was afraid she wouldn't find Elena. She sucked in a breath and dived in. Squinted her eyes. Looked around frantically. Resurfaced. Sucked in a breath again. Dived back in. Looked around. It went on like that for almost ten minutes. When she finally found the now fifteen-year-old limply sinking deeper and deeper, she ignored the aches in her body and the building migraine from being underwater, and pushed downward, pushing her muscles as hard as she could, only being slightly relieved when she finally caught a hold of Elena's arm. She pressed her back against the younger girl's chest and wrapped Elena's arms around her neck before pushing upward and swimming toward the surface as fast as she could as her capability to hold her breath was growing thin.

When she reached the surface, it took her about another ten minutes to find land and pull them both onto the shore. Like the day Jamie died, she became hysterical and started panicking when Elena wasn't breathing.

"Elena?! Elena!"

Her head only lolled like a bobble-head every time Ayden tried to shake her awake. Then, jacket ripped open, Ayden's hands found their way onto Elena's chest, doing compressions. She counted in her head, trying to keep the rhythm steady.

_One. Two. Three. Four._

Breaking away for a second, she didn't let her mind fill itself with thoughts about how she was straight as she pressed her lips onto Elena's and blew a lungful of air into her. She wasn't breaking any rules of nature, she was simply trying to save a teenage girl from dying.

She couldn't see anymore. Her eyes were wet and blurry, and she couldn't tell if it were from tears, or simply from the salty ocean water falling from her braided hair. But she was hyperaware of the sounds going on in the sky. The unwilling glug-glug of Elena's heart under Ayden's demanding hands, the pounding of her own heart— she forced more air down Elena's throat.

"Don't you dare do this to me!" she choked out breathlessly, pumping her heart again.  _One. Two. Three. Four._

"Come on!"  _One. Two. Three. Four._

She snarled.  _One. Two. Three. Four._

She breathed for Elena again. "Lena," she urged.

She looked up from Elena's shut eyes, still pumping her heart for her. There was no help around. It was only the two of them. She blew more air into her mouth, but there was nothing there. Just the lifeless rise of her chest in response. She kept pumping her heart, counting...

But there was nothing there, just Ayden. Working over a corpse.

Because that's all that was left of the girl she had come to love as a little sister.

She knew it was too late. She knew she was dead. She didn't feel any reason to stay there beside her. But she didn't leave. She kept pumping, kept blowing, and she had never felt happier when the girl shot up, and a waterfall came pouring from her mouth. She stopped, watching as the young girl coughed out oceans of water, only hitting her on the back, gently, to help her when it seemed as though the water was getting caught in her friend's throat. When she stopped and was only just coughing now, Elena glanced over at Ayden with wide eyes as the latter tiredly flopped onto her back, on the sand.

"I fell," she managed to choke out through her raspy throat.

"And a nasty fall, it was," Ayden replied, voice just as hoarse.

Elena's shocked gaze did not waver from where it rested upon the tired-looking brunette. "Y-you jumped after me," she stammered.

Ayden huffed. "I told you I'd protect you."

Elena shook her head, eyes still wide in disbelief as she brushed the wet hair away from her face. "You jumped off a damn plane, into the ocean... just for  _me_." She paused as she watched the brunet slump onto the sand, exhausted. "You went back for me."

"I'll always go back for you. You fall, I'll catch you." Ayden, then, tilted her head to the side and looked at her with a tired, slightly close-eyed smile. "And it's like I told you:  _when it comes to us, I'm in it for the long haul_."

Elena grinned back just as tiredly, remembering her telling her that the day they met. " _'Till the end of the line'_ ," she quoted, grabbing onto her best friend's hand.

" _'Till the end of the line'_ ," Ayden agreed, gently squeezing Elena's hand in return.

From then on, their friendship only grew stronger.

As the months went by, though Ayden became rather fidgety around the rare women at the base, she grew more and more comfortable with her new position. Her job was simple; she had to command and control her company-sized unit. It was easy, and, though she didn't really like the whole 'being a leader' thing, she got used to it, although it rather unnerved her that her commands never seemed to work on Aziz. Ayden and the Colonel had had Andrew start looking for the child's family since they all left the hospital after Ayden and Elena's grand rescue, but, since then, the little boy followed her everywhere like a lost puppy, clinging to her side as though his life depended on it. She'd tell him to go with someone, but he wouldn't let go of her unless it was absolutely necessary. He spoke to no one but her and, occasionally Andrew, who also spoke Dari well enough, but, whenever Ayden was not on a mission, or out instructing skills at service schools and The United States Army combat training center, he stuck by her side. Eventually, they managed to get him to let her go and sent him off with one of Andrew relatives who so happened to live near Bagram, with the promise that he could visit Ayden whenever.

By the dawn of December of 2012, when their rounds in America were finally done and over with, they headed back East, though they did not return to their camp just yet as a Scandinavian country encompassing of mountains, glaciers and deep coastal fjords was waiting for them.

" _Why is it so freaking cold in Norway?_ " Elena complained.

"Just be grateful it's barely starting," Ayden said as she blew small puffs of air, glancing up at the barely snow-covered trees; winter had begun later than usual in that region. "Chris, Hugh, what's your status?"

" _It's clear up ahead on our side_ ," Huang replied.

" _Still gotta be careful, though_ ," Chris piped in. " _We just shot down a few guards, so it won't be long till the rest realize some of them are missin' and know we're here_."

Ayden nodded absentmindedly. "Alright. Morris? Red? Watch your step, Grayson," she added in a low tone.

"Thanks," Damian said as he avoided tripping over a log, and mentally groaned; he hated that she called him by his first name rather than Damian like everyone else did.

" _All clear here_ ," Curt replied.

" _T-there's n-no guards_."

"Anthony? Elena?" Ayden asked.

" _Haven't found anything yet_ ," Anthony replied.

" _I got a feeling we're close though, but nothing's showing up on the scouter_ ," said Elena, with a slight edge in her tone; she was puzzled.

Ayden huffed, slightly discouraged. "Alright. Marvin, Dan, what about you guys?"

" _Got some guards disarmed. They won't alert anyone, though_."

"Alright, make sure they're taken care of," Ayden commanded as she and Damian glanced around, cautious and hyperaware.

" _Yes, Captain_."

"Lena, Anthony; round up."

" _On our way_."

Ayden sighed as she stopped walking. "Alright, Sergeant. East or West?"

Damian looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "You're seriously asking me?"

She shrugged. "Well, yeah. I mean, we  _are_  a tea—" Head snapping upward, she quickly snatched his arm and yanked him behind a large tree.

He grunted, wincing slightly as his back hit the bark. "Careful, sweetheart."

She glared up at him. "Shut up." She peeked through her side and frowned when she saw a man running. He was a small figure, stout, with black, skull-shaped iron mask cap. "There's one there."

Damian grabbed his gun, and he and Ayden ran through the greens, pausing every few seconds to avoid being seen. Ayden looked down; they were standing on top of a cliff. However, it wasn't the only one. It looked basically like a crater, with a bunch of cliffs pocking in, and there was a cave at the bottom. Ayden suspected it wasn't just any regular cave.

Tightening her grip around her own gun, she glanced up at Damian. "You ready?"

"Ready." Damian jumped first and that's when Ayden saw him again. The man in a black, skull-shaped iron mask, but this time he was aiming towards Damian. There was a cloth in one hand with some white powder that she recognized to be sleeping-powder.

They were trying to capture Damian. But why? Did they have something to do with the people who'd had him before when she first rescued him? Were they finally getting the lead they'd been hoping to get for the past half year?

Her first instinct was to run, but she paused. If those people were the people Ayden thought them to be, she knew she was going to do something. It was going to be stupid and reckless, but— _Damian has suffered enough_ , she thought. Whatever he went through, he didn't need to go through it again.

To avoid changing her mind, Ayden quickly pushed Damian forward, so that he landed on his stomach on the other cliff, just as a bullet echoed loudly, piercing through her side. Not even a second later, the man with the black, skull-shaped iron mask grabbed her, shoving something sharp into her back while pressing a cloth to her face before whisking her away.

The last thing she heard was Damian calling out her name as the world around her disappeared into nothing but darkness. He searched for her. It felt like hours had passed, but he still couldn't find her, and an immense guilt was starting to overtake him.

" _Damian, where are you?_ " his sister's voice resonated through his earpiece. He didn't reply, he simply kept looking for Ayden. Why did she take the bullet for him? Why did she let them take her instead of him?

"Damian?  _В чем дело? Где_ _Ayden_?"  **(What's wrong? Where's Ayden?)**  Elena's voice startled him, coming from behind him. He turned and found his sister crouching behind him, with Anthony right behind her. Damian hesitated, and that, in turn, made Elena narrow her eyes at him as she spoke in a lower tone. "Grayson, where is Ayden?"

Damian looked at Elena, who was staring at him warily. "She was taken hostage. It was supposed to be me, but she took my place. I've been looking for her for the past hour, but it's like whoever took her just vaporized into thin air." Every word he said was filled with guilt.

Ayden was so young; Damian, albeit being only four years older than her, should have been in her place. He had dealt with pain and torture before when his unit had been held captive. He still couldn't believe it.

Ayden had taken his place.

Elena paled as she stood up from her crouch. "What?"

"Easy there," Anthony murmured, though it was clear he was just as shocked; he looked like he wanted to throw up, and Elena only kept blinking at her brother as if saying 'are you serious?'.

Jaw clenched, Elena spoke into her earpiece, "Feral Force, do y'all copy?"

" _What's up, Lieutenant?_ "

"Roundup, we're heading back to base."

" _Why? We haven't found the—_ "

"Roundup at the start point, I'll explain there."

* * *

It felt like an eternity of pain before Ayden's eyes snapped open in panic; she could feel the thick lining of sweat pouring down her face— her breathing was shallow as she felt no pain surging through her own body, only numbness. Rolling her numb head to the side she caught sight of dozens of surgical equipment and machines near where she was lying. Was she in a hospital? No, this wasn't a hospital; the atmosphere of this place was much more dull and deadlier.

She blinked rapidly to rid the bleariness from her vision; she could feel a migraine coming on as a million thoughts ran through her head. The last thing she remembered was—

"Damian..." she whispered hoarsely, but her tongue felt like led. She felt tears sting her eyelids as she closed them to blink them away— needing to be strong no matter what.

"Ah, you're awake, Soldier. Good."

Unable to move her head again, she let her eyes slowly shift toward the source of the voice. Standing at her side were two men, one of them being the guy in the black, skull-shaped iron mask, and the other being a man with dark hair and dark skin.

"Who are you?" she tried to say, but only managed to emit a gurgling sound.

The man with the dark hair gave the masked man a plain look. "You were supposed to get the boy."

"She blocked my way," the man protested. "Either way, it's a good thing I got her. She's better, from what I've seen. She's a strong fighter too."

"I know," the man murmured. He then cleared his throat and spoke with a heavy accent. "My name is Hamid Clayton, and this is my assistant: William Alisher." He smiled deviously at her weak state. "I'm sure you are wondering why you are here." Of course, he got no answer; either way, he went on. "Well, I had in mind to capture your Russian boyfriend, but I like you much better. You seem to have more...  _spunk_."

She could barely pull a reaction, though the confusion was clear in her slightly glazed over eyes. "Oh, right. I forgot to mention; we have been watching you,  _Captain_  Jaubert. We have watched you destroy each and every one of our bases but let me tell you something." He leaned forward and brushed a hand against her cheek. "You won't be the one trying to bring us down any time soon again."

As soon as he said that, a small group of men came in, a few making their way toward her and pulling her off the rather back aching bed she'd been placed on. Her eyes felt herself widen the moment she saw they were leading her toward the chair placed in the middle of the vault-like room. She panicked, though, with how weak she felt and was at that moment, there was nothing she could do; whatever they had injected her with, when they captured her, had practically paralyzed her completely. She wanted to trash around in order to slip from their grip, but that was just impossible. She didn't know what the chair was meant to do to her, but the fact that something about it just seemed to scream 'danger' at her is what sent her into an internal fit of hysterics. That, and the fact that it looked an awful lot like an electrocution chair... with injection needles suspiciously hanging on each side of the metallic chair.

Ayden felt pathetic as her weak attempt to pull away and glare at him. "Y... bastard... let me..."

"Go? I'm afraid that will not be possible, Captain. You will not be released until the procedure is started and completed, and ready for the results to be tested."

Ayden's eyebrows twitched as they tried to furrow in confusion. "P-pro-c-ced-dure?"

He smirked. "Oh, yes. I quite like the idea of there being a superhuman, even better a super soldier. But I like, better, the idea of a super... well, I guess I'll just say it straight out: assassin, since there's no catchier word for it."

Ayden's jaw weakly clenched. "Y-y.... in... sane..."

"Nah. I'm just  _madly_  in love with science." Suddenly, Clayton turned away from her. "Prep her."

Ayden had no idea what he meant, but whatever it was, she knew it was no good.  _No_ , she silently pleaded, but she knew that, even if she said it out loud, it would be of no use. They would still do what they were planning to do to her.

She couldn't understand everything they were saying as they were speaking a language foreign to her own, but she was able to catch a few words that were similar to thus in Dari.

" _Are you sure she's ready?_ " was what she understood.

"Yes, start her up. Then, we will proceed from there, before wiping her," Clayton replied coldly.

Ayden was too far in her mind to realize that the men holding her had pushed her back, by themselves, into the locking system, and had tied her arms to the chair, making her unable to move  _at all_.

The man in a lab coat, on her left, pushed a teeth guard into her mouth as she struggled to get out, but the contraption soon wrapped itself around her head. She began to run her mind as quickly as possible, but it only made her groan and slightly grimace as her migraine became more prominent.

She was scared. She knew what was about to come. Pain... lots of it. Would it damage what had badly resulted from her accident the previous year when there'd been a fire in the orphanage? She couldn't think more as the seat suddenly tilted back and her arms locked in. She wasn't just scared anymore. She was terrorized. No. They couldn't possibly do whatever they were thinking of doing to her, could they? She was merely a teenage girl... they weren't that heartless... were they? Her breathing became erratic in anticipation.

Not even a second after, it felt like her head was on fire; like it was going to explode— her screams of agony echoed throughout the room full of people as they watched her in pain and Hamid walked out of the room in confident strides.

She didn't stop. She kept screaming and screaming until she couldn't fight the darkness that took over her once more. There were many times she woke up, and, though she never managed to stay awake for long, she remembered it all. The needles being shoved into her eyes and the rest of her body, the blade cutting through the back of her neck... the blades they would use afterward to test how quickly she healed. It took almost a week before her regenerative system worked within five minutes and only left a not so pretty scar behind.

She was sweaty, cold, stinky and dirty, yet it was all too clear how pale her skin had become. Her skin that had once been a beautiful light brown... which had then taken on a nice, light olive tone... she was practically Snow White now, except with dark brown hair rather than black; and all she could think of was—

_When will it all end?_

* * *

"Nothing," Andrew muttered as he checked his computer. "Nothing at all?"

"Negative, Sir," his AI responded. "I have searched the area from where Captain Jaubert was last seen, but there has been nothing out of the ordinary since she was captured."

Andrew literally felt Damian stiffen next to him. Even Andrew couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy; he had barely slept or eaten ever since Ayden had been taken over a week ago. Even Andrew had growled, frustrated that it had been almost a week since the young girl he'd been smitten with was captured and not even his extremely intelligent AI could find her.

"Damn it," he mumbled. "Shouldn't the army people place track collars on their soldiers or something?"

"They can attract too much attention," Damian was still avoiding Elena's glance. "And if they're the same people that captured the one-o-sixth months ago, then they will no doubt be able to tamper with it so that they work against us. Are you sure you're checking that thing right?"

"Of course I'm sure," Andrew rolled his eyes. "I'm Andrew Carson and if my extremely nice and awesomely brilliant interactive system, nor anyone of else of the Colonel's nerdy lackeys can find her, then that means that..." He choked slightly at the idea. "I mean, there's still a very good chance..." Clara shot him a warning look and he simply sighed, running a hand through his hair, "Oh, don't look at me like that; I'm not a very good liar."

Clara put a reassuring hand on Elena's shoulder; out of all of them, she was the closest to Ayden. "Don't worry, Elena. We're doing everything we can to make sure that we find Carmen and bring her back safely."

Elena shrugged off her hand; comfort wasn't something she was looking for right now. She wanted confirmation— she wanted Ayden to be there with them, safe and sound.

"Just find her," she muttered, before sauntering her way out of Andrew's office.

She wasn't going to just stand around while Andrew kept coming up with dead ends, but she was not going to lose hope either, even less put her arms down, because when it came to one another... she wasn't going to give up until they found her best friend; she was in it for the long haul, and the pull was just beginning.

* * *

Ayden thought—  _hoped_  that all torture and experimentation was over when the week ended, but, when she was thrown into a cell, she knew she was way off. They brought her food, though, no matter the quantity being big or small, it still looked unappetizing, so she never ate any of it. She simply sat in the corner of her cell and, for the first time in a long time, thought of her brother and mother.

How were they? Were they thinking about her now that she was away? Would they mourn if she didn't make it back? If she died... would they place new flowers every month on her grave? Would they even go to her a funeral?

 _Sigh_.

There was no doubt  _she_  was in it for the long haul.

She knew thinking those things would only get her killed sooner, so she stopped. She quit her struggle. She toned down her defiance, and shut everything out; they spoke to her, asked questions, demanded answers about this and that, but she remained as silent as the empty shell she had become. Just like she had been before Jamie's death. The only person she looked at was Charles. He never gave his surname as he said he could not remember it, though she knew he wasn't Tajik, like most of them.

He wasn't bad, like most of them.

He worked for them because, though he seemed rather reluctant now, it was clear he had once wanted to; it now seemed as though he'd started feeling something toward the young Captain. Perhaps it was empathy; he'd lost part of his family through experimentation as well. It hadn't been as brutal and torturous as what she was going through, but it'd been bad enough for them not to survive. Bad enough for his little sister to not survive it.

He would come to see her as often as he could. He would sit on the ground facing her, only the metal bars encasing the cell separating them. He would look at her with soft, caring eyes and tell her about himself. About his family. About his little sister.

"You remind me so much of her," he would say sadly, his voice thickened with a slight accent she couldn't place. "She would've liked you," and he would smile, after saying that. "She loved to sing. Do you like to sing?" She wouldn't respond, but the longing in her eyes at the brief mention of music would be his answer.

She had begun depending on him in order to keep holding onto the very little hope she had left. She had started to hope that, if no one came for her, that at least she would soon be strong enough again to escape. He would help her. She knew that. She had always been cautious when it came to trusting people, but she knew she could trust him.

However, the bit of hope she had been regaining thanks to Charles quickly began to disappear once more when she woke up one day— she couldn't tell if it was day or night anymore as she had been kept in the dark windowless place for far too long— in a dimly lit room, tied to a clothes more torn than she last remembered them to be. She felt fainter and drowsier than what had become usual, and that worried her.

"It's a tranquilizer... and this one disables your powers..." she heard Hamid Clayton's familiar voice say deviously. She looked up and found him smirking at a pack of tranquilizing darts he was holding. "Primitive, but effective."

Ayden breathed heavily, glaring at him. "You drugged me, what's new about that?" She paused. "... and what powers are you talkin' about?"

He chuckled at her. "The powers you had... the powers I gifted you with... Oh, and, in case you're wondering, they won't exactly stop it."

Ayden rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure I would've known if I had powers. And, if I did, well, it's pretty obvious they wouldn't help since I'm still too weak from the shit you've done to me to kick your ass," she snapped at him.

This time, he rolled his eyes. "Relax, this is just another little test."

"Just another  _little_  test?" she growled in disbelief.

But he ignored her and went on. "One of my associates suggested I try it at a larger dose this time."

" _Larger dose this time?_ " she echoed.

"At first, I thought it was kind of a waste, but then I reconsidered when it benefited us with your caption." Finally noticing the look on her face, he elaborated slightly on what it was. "These are for use on part-anodites mostly."

_What the hell is an anodite?_

He sighed. "They must have thought the plan was different, seeing as it didn't kill you, as a part of me initially hoped it would. But having you here, at our mercy, thoroughly tortured and experimented on is all the more fun to watch."

Before she could spit at him or curse or add anything for that matter, footsteps were heard, coming towards the door.

"Boss, I got what you asked for," a voice said from the doorway. She turned her head and noticed it was William― Clayton's right-hand man. He was a handsome man, no older than thirty years old, standing about six feet two, with a thin sheet of stubble around his jaw, short, dark hair, black eyes, olive complexion, and a muscular build. With his thin sheet of dark stubble

"Ah,  _Willy_ , good, good. Bring it here," Hamid said as he held out his hand.

William, jaw clenched followed by a death glare, handed Hamid some kind of object that she couldn't really make out. William looked over at Ayden and a smirk appeared on his face, making her grimace; she never liked him... not that she liked anyone there― Charles was the only exception.

"What you got here, Clay?"

"I wish he was made out of clay-doe, so I could squish him like the bug he is," Ayden muttered under her breath.

William smirked as he approached her slightly. Ayden narrowed her eyes at him, emitting a chuckle out of him.

"Oh, just the same old pile of trash." Clayton laughed, completely ignoring her comment, as William laughed along with him.

The sixteen-year-old girl rolled her eyes at them.

"Well, what are you going to do with her  _now_?" William asked as Clayton raised an eyebrow at him. William raised both his eyebrows as it seemed they were having a conversation with their eyes, which was honestly annoying her.

"Oh,  _Willy_ , I don't care, do what you want but I'm giving you only fifteen minutes." Clayton chuckled at William as another smirk covered his face.

"That's enough time to get what I want... but I'll probably be a while― we're not in that much of a hurry anyway, Clay," William said.

Clayton seemed to consider it. "Fine, I want you here early tomorrow, Will."

"No problem, Boss," William replied as he grabbed Ayden by the elbow and pulled her from her seat. She squirmed in his grip as he led her towards the door. She thought she saw Clayton wink at William but she wasn't sure because he was dragging her out the door.

"You disgust me," she hissed at William as he smirked down at her.

"Oh, babe, don't lie to yourself." He rolled his eyes as he continued to drag her through the dimly lit hallways.

"Fuckin' asshole is what you are," Ayden growled at him as he pushed her through a door closing it behind him. He shoved her into the room that was furnished with a bed, a desk, and television. Her hands were still tied behind as she turned around to look at William who had just locked the door.

"I didn't know you rolled that way, but we can try." William shrugged his shoulders as she furrowed her brows in confusion at him.

"What the hell are you talking about?" she exclaimed.

"Now, now. That's no way for a lady to speak," he said as he pulled out some rope from his back pocket.

Ayden's eyes widened as William walked toward to her. She kept walking backward until she bumped into the bed, making her fall onto it. He smirked as he grabbed her leg. She had no clue what the hell he was doing before, but, as she took everything in, the bed, the rope, the nasty comment, William... she realized something and that's when she started squirming.

"No, stop, what are you doing?!" she yelled as he grabbed her one leg and tied it to the bedpost at the end of the bed. Ayden began kicking with her right leg as he tried to grab it.

"Stop moving, bitch!" William yelled at her as he finally grabbed a hold of her leg. She tried to kick and squirm but he had a tight grip and eventually got it tied to the other bedpost as well.

"You're sick, you know that!" she hissed at him as he crawled above her. She began swinging her tied together arms at him but he pushed them above her head in a tight grip. She never knew he was quite this strong.

"Shh, I've been waiting to do this since we brought your little ass 'round here, but your damn, uptight, bitchy attitude got in the way," he said as he rubbed his bulge against her.

She wasn't one to cry at most things done to her physically, but she'd never been sexually assaulted... okay, yes she had, but she had always managed to escape before she lost a piece of clothing or her maidenhood. But this was way off. It was too much― it had never gone this far during torture and she can handle most things, but this she can't.

"Stop!" she cried as she squirmed her body side to side trying to get him off but she knew she was weak compared to him and right now she didn't think any of her training has prepared me for this.

He began kissing her neck as he kept rubbing against her and she didn't like it at all. Tears were streaming down her face as she silently cried.

"Help! Please! Someone!" she screamed out as he began taking off her shirt. "Help!"

But there was no answer and she didn't expect to get one.

William ripped her blouse open to reveal her black sports' brassiere as he began kissing her chest. Her sobs became hysterical as she begged him to stop but it was like talking to a brick wall.

Ayden heard a big bang coming from the door, but nothing happened so it was probably just in her mind. William began massaging her covered breast as tears began rolling faster down her cheeks. There was another loud bang against the door, making it fall to the floor with a loud thud. A familiar man with straight, chin-length raven black hair stood up from the rubble of the door.

"Get off her!" he yelled as he rushed over and grabbed William from on top of her and threw him on the floor.

"What the hell, man!" William screamed at the man who began smashing his face in.

Ayden smiled a bit, despite herself, thanking whoever had come to save her. She brought her tied hands in front of her as she pushed herself up. She grabbed a knife in her one pocket and began cutting through the tape on her hands.

The mysterious man was still punching William, but from what she'd seen so far, she knew William can fight so it's only a matter of time before the man gets his fair share.

"You sick fuckin' bastard!" the guy screamed in William's face as he slammed him up against the wall.

William's face was all bloody due to the man's beating. William smirked at him as he brought his fist up and slammed it into his face. Ayden's eyes widened as she began cutting faster. The tape ripped as she peeled it off her skin. She immediately grabbed the second gun she had and aimed it at the two boys. William was smashing in the man's face but he was putting up a good defense against him.

"Uh... stranger, duck!" she yelled and the man did just that as William's face came into view and she fired. Time seemed to slow down as the bullet soared through the air and straight into William's shoulder. She fired another shot as she closed her eyes not knowing where it hit. He fell limp in the man's grip as he pushed him away. The man turned to her as he quickly scrambled to his feet and rushed to help her.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he grabbed her face in his hands. Tears were now coming out in waterfalls down her cheeks as she looked into the warm gray eyes she had been longing to see for the past few days.

"Charles?" she croaked.

"Shh, Carmen. It's okay. I'm right here," he soothed. Her hands shaking from the recent events, she wrapped her pale thin arms around his neck as he brought her into a hug.

"Where have you been? I missed you," she admitted in a small voice; she felt like a little girl whom had just reunited with her missing brother because that was what she saw Charles as. A brother, albeit him being on her enemy's side.

"I missed you too," he said. He leaned down and kissed her forehead; this was the first time since they met that they were physically close to one another.

"Thank you so much," she whispered into his hair as he nodded his head.

"Remember that promise I made?" She nodded while wiping her eyes free of tears while he pulled out of the hug, then took off his extra shirt and put it on her. "Well, this is me keeping it. C'mon, I'm gonna get you out of here," he said, buttoning up the shirt on her before grabbing the knife. He began cutting the rope as he freed her legs one leg at a time.

"Thanks again, Charles," she repeated, her voice a little stronger now, as she hopped off the bed.

His gray eyes bored into her bicolor orbs with something she couldn't read in them. "I love you, Carmen. You may not be my sister, but I see you as one. And I promise to protect you better from now on. I will get you out of here," he said in a deathly serious tone.

Her eyes watered as she looked into his serious yet sincere eyes.

"Thank you," she cried out, hugging him again.

She would probably never admit it, but she had missed this kind of affection, this kind of human contact. Though her throat was beginning to burn in thirst as an unfamiliar scent reached her nose, she ignored it and brought her hands to the back of his head, her fingers tightened in his hair as she pulled him closer. His warmth was comforting and she welcomed it to cast away the cold that had overtaken her body in her time as a prisoner there. He was everywhere. Her closed eyelids turned red as if sunlight was piercing through them, and the color fit, matched the warmth. It was everywhere. She couldn't see, or hear, or feel anything that wasn't the brotherly person Charles had become, until―

_BANG!_

Charles' body went rigid against hers, and his grip on her loosened. Ayden slightly pulled back to look at the saddened look on his face. Confused, she looked down at his chest and felt her breath get caught up in her throat the second her eyes landed on the now bloodied spot of his chest... his heart.

Ayden looked back up at him with teary eyes. "No, Charles, please don't―"

"I'm sorry, Carmen... sister... I love you..." he whispered before collapsing onto the ground.

"NO! Charles, please, no!" she shouted kneeling down beside his body. She grabbed his face and shook him gently, yet roughly enough for him to awaken... hopefully. This had to be a joke― she refused to believe he's―

"He's dead, hun. Just accept it."

She looked up at William with nothing empty bicolor eyes as she slowly stood.

"You did this." Her voice was so low... so quiet, it was barely audible.

"Indeed I did," William replied with a proud smirk. He faltered slightly, suddenly wary as she practically soared over to him ever so gracefully. She stared at him, though what began to worry him was the trance-like look on her expressionless face.

"You killed my brother." Her eyes were suddenly glowing blue. "You. Killed.  _Fred_."

William's brows scrunched in confusion as he took a step backward. "Uh... actually that's Charles."

" _You. Killed. My. Brother._ " She growled.

Then, before he could even react, her hand snapped forward and pierced its way through his chest, clutching his heart, which she then ripped out and threw into the already bloody floor as his body fell onto the carpeted floor, lifeless.

Shifting back to their light blueish-brown hues they had become after the explosion all those months ago, her eyes gazed around in confusion. The second that familiar intoxicating smell reached her nostrils, she began to hyperventilate when she saw where it was coming from. Stealing one last disgusted look at William, and a mournful one at Charles, she up and left, but not before grabbing the small bag Charles had left outside the room. It was the very few things of hers he managed to save; her semi-damaged scouter, her malfunctioning earpiece, and one of her handguns which barely had any bullets left. Attaching the pouch-like bag to her belt loop, she clenched her jaw, then turned toward the door and ran out.

She ran for her life, only grieving over the loss of someone she came to care about. Someone who would stay in heart for as long as she was in it for the long haul.


	5. The first worst expedition...

She wasn't in Norway anymore, that much she knew. But, at this point, she didn't really care where she was; she just wanted to leave. She had managed to escape without being caught and made it till the edge of the snowy island, where the water led to the sea. There, whether it was simple luck, she would never know; she found a ship that had just taken a pit stop.

The ship sheltered the regular people that worked on it to keep it running, but it also had a few extra passengers who were on their way to Japan. It was an expedition that was led by Dr. James Whitman, a celebrity archaeologist who had fallen on hard times and was desperate to avoid bankruptcy. His primary companions were Conrad Roth; a Royal Marine turned adventurer; and Samantha Nishimura, or Sam as she preferred to be called, who was there to film the expedition for a documentary. Then there was Joslyn Reyes, a skeptical and temperamental mechanic and single mother; Jonah Maiava, an imposing and placid fisherman who was willing to believe in the existence of the paranormal and esoteric; Angus "Grim" Grimaldi, the gruff Glaswegian helmsman of the  _Endurance_ ; and, finally, Alex Weiss, a goofy and bespectacled electronics specialist.

When they had found her passed out at the docks, they were rather skeptical and wary, but Sam was all for taking her with them, so they did so as they knew better than to defy the young woman's decisions. Ayden had no idea how to react when she awoke, four days later, in the ship, cleaned and patched up, though, of course, she could not exactly stop herself from panicking until Sam and Alex came to see her. She felt alright around Sam as she reminded her of an older version of Elena― the girl was twenty. When she was around Alex, however, she felt rather uneasy; the twenty-year-old young man made it rather obvious that he had a crush on the girl he had only watched sleep for four days― she was actually creeped out when Sam told her about it. She was okay with the mechanic, the superstitious fisherman and the Marine turned adventurer, and she was somewhat fine with the gruff helmsman; though he kind of made her uncomfortable― he was like that uncle the rest of the family tried to avoid― she still found him to be quite an amusing man. Dr. Whitman, however, she did not like, and it was no secret that nobody else liked him either.

Mongolia, she found she'd been at for a month. How she ended up from her mission in Norway, all the way in Mongolia? She had no idea, but she knew she would have to wait a while before she reunited with her unit in Kabul; she was too far from civilization to be flown across the continent, so she proposed and was accepted to accompany them on their expedition. It was going to be her first time going on any expedition, especially aboard a ship such as the  _Endurance_. The goal of the expedition was to find the lost kingdom of Yamatai. Though her excuse was that she owed them for somewhat saving her life, the main reason Ayden really volunteered was in hopes that, with her skills, she would be able to make it quicker and shorter, so she could get back to Kabul sooner; she had a war to win, after all.

The trip was rather smooth, though Ayden did not dare herself to go out as she was still not fond of the idea of traveling overseas. She sat in her cabin, looking at the small mirror of the small vanity dresser pushed up against the wall beside the door that led into the hallway. There were some pictures hanging there of herself, Sam, and a few of the other crew members; Sam insisted she kept a few as so to not forget them when she went back to the army. She thought, rather deeply, trying to imagine herself as an explorer. It was rather hard as she had never really been interested in anything archaeological of adventurous, but she knew she had to think like an explorer if she was going to keep up with these people. Sure, they were not all explorers, but they knew what they were doing. She had no idea what she was doing; she usually acted out of impulse, then came up with a plan in the midst of action. She was thankful to have taken an Anthropology course and a Western Civilization course in college; it wasn't the same as what any sort of explorer would've studied, but it helped to know a bit of the history of the places one would be going and understanding the cultures that were to be found.

She could remember a paper in her Anthropology course, a paper written by a famous explorer whose name she could not remember. The thing that struck her the most, that she knew she would never forget from that paper was his belief. He believed that  _the extraordinary is found in what we do, not what we are._

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.

She knew she would find that out for herself. How? Only time would tell. She felt as though this was what was finally going to help her set out her mark; this adventure she sought and was about to find. But some part of her knew that, instead of her finding it, adventure would find her.

As she settled down on her bunk, grabbing the notebook she'd been leaned, she glanced at the digital clock hanging beside the small mirrored vanity dresser― 23:00― and exhaled tiredly. It was really late, yet she couldn't find it in herself to sleep; every time she'd close her eyes she would either see Clayton and his scientist torturing her and experimenting on her, William trying to force himself on her, or Charles being killed. Exhaling once again, she shut her eyes for a moment, trying not to think too much though it was rather hard not too.

She brought out the small radio-recorder and hit on the recording button.

"It's twenty-three hundred and two right now... night. I have no idea how long it's been since my mission, nor how long  _exactly_  it's been since I escaped Clayton's wrath... but I  _do_  know that... for three weeks I've been out here on this expedition with people I know just." She sighed. "So far we've got zero finds, twenty fish suppers, fifty instances of Roth fantasizing about a pint of Bitter and a ninety-nine percent chance that I'll hurl myself off this boat out of sheer boredom," she said into the recorder.

"Despite the whole... going into the Dragon's Triangle― which we are currently nearing... It's... seriously boring. I guess that's expected from someone like me... a 'newborn' super soldier who's been weakened by some stupid sedative that has something to do with... anodites? I have no idea what that is..." Another sigh. "Oh, well. Boredom aside..." She paused for a moment, biting down her lower lip. "Roth. Let's talk about him. The guy's awesome! He's like... he's like a... _slightly_ younger, friendlier and much more caring version of Doolittle. He's been sort of mentoring me, in a way, since I've woken up."

"He's told me all about his previous finds and it's all just so... wow! And now I'm part of this expedition― not like I had much of a choice, but I'm actually looking forward to it. We're getting closer to the triangle and I... I feel like we're on the brink of discovering something extraordinary― i-it's so exciting! And I have this feeling that.... that this search is going to be  _my mark_..." She paused, a pensive look taking on her face. "Maybe... maybe I'll become an explorer in the future... if I make it through this war..." she mumbled to herself.

Sighing, she stopped recording, then plugged the earphones Sam had leaned her, into her ears, and cranked up the volume of the small radio, trying to focus on the 60s song playing on the radio station rather than the storm going on outside. She had begun to fall out of consciousness when, suddenly, she found herself unplugged one earbud from her ear after being startled wide awake by the loudest thunder she'd ever heard, only to fly off her cot and onto the ground a few moments later, hitting her head on the opposite iron wall.

The sedative Clayton had injected her with was still in effect, even after three weeks, and that still worried her; it made her feel too weak and vulnerable and... too normal. She didn't mind feeling normal, but, at moments like the one she was currently in, she honestly preferred having her super soldier endurance running, than feeling like the ill girl she used to be.

Stumbling onto her feet, she made her way out the door, clutching her head as the alarm began to echo loudly throughout the entire ship. All the lights were flickering, electrocuting sparks were flying everywhere, and the floor was unbalanced; Ayden knew Clayton's sedative was strong, but she doubted that was what was making her lose her footing one too many times. She leaned against the wall opposing her door for a moment, shaking her head as to stop the forming migraine from growing any more irritating. Suddenly, she heard a loud splashing sound echoing through the hallways, causing her head to snap back, eyes widening in terror.

"Oh, no..."

She knew what was coming, but she was still barely accustomed to the labyrinth-like ship, so she had no idea where she was going when she started to run; she ran up to a dead end just as water broke through a wall and started flooding the place.

"Ah!"

She turned and ran down another tunnel, the water right at her heels. She was being chased down the hallway by water. Suddenly, water broke from the other end and rushed her way, engulfing her completely. She pushed her way up to where she would have a chance at breathing, popping her head out of the water. She inhaled deeply in slight relief at being able to breathe, though the slight smile that had been making its way onto her lips faded quickly when she realized just how strong the water rushing in was.

Suddenly, a large wave made its way into the hallway she was stuck in, crashing over her head. She gasped for air just as another wave rushed in and hit her, pulling her under. She put a lot of effort into each push as she tried to swim back to the surface for more air, but the water only got stronger and, in the end, pushed her into another room with no way out but a ladder going down to the boiler room, slamming the door right behind her. She swam up to the door and tried to pry it open, however, with no result; the door was locked with the deadbolt she couldn't budge. She started banging on the small round window, crying out for help in the small space she had for air, between the consuming water that was slowly rising up her waist and the thick round window.

"Help!" She started coughing, glancing back at the rising water in panic.

She kept banging on the window, though there was much force put into her actions as she screamed the moment the water engulfed her completely once again. Her lungs were filling themselves with water, her vision was becoming blurry... she wasn't breathing anymore. She was just there... floating lifelessly, the water slowly dragging her down into the dark watery abyss.

Suddenly, the door was slammed open, and a hand reached in and pulled her out.

Her heart restarted with a wild shock as she hunched her shoulders beside the sided room, coughing her lungs out. Blinking tiredly, she glanced up, her eyes beginning to readjust to her surrounding. She saw Roth already at the other end of the hall, motioning her to follow him. Pushing herself to her feet, slightly stumbling as the ground began to feel even more unbalanced, she tightened her sore muscles and pushed herself forward, running after the older man. She stumbled and tripped as water broke from the ceiling, pieces of the falling ship almost hitting her, though she did not stop running until she neared an open dead end, her eyes widening in fright and horror as she continued to run.

The ship had parted, her new comrades on the other side; she had to take a jump in order to reunite with them.

Jaw clenching, fists tightening, she ran and took her jump. Time seemed to slow around her as she leaped over the drowning pit of death, her arms flailing around her. Before she could fall to her death, however, she yelped in surprise when Roth's hand clasped around her own, though barely.

"Roth!"

"I've got you!"

"Don't let go!" she cried out.

"I won't!"

But she slipped.

It was all so fast, yet slow at the same time as she plummeted down, dropping through the suffocating air, between the parted ship, like a meteor. The wind resisted, trying vainly to fight the unconquerable gravity, pushing against her and twirling her in spirals like a rocket crashing to the earth as her life flashed before her eyes.

* * *

_"Come on, Cece!" he eight-year-old brother called out from the middle of the large pool._

_She shook her head. "But, Fred, it's too cold!"_

_"No, it's not, Ayden."_

_"Yes, it is. And it's deep too."_

_"Just come on, Blaze. Don't be such a baby."_

_She huffed. "I'm four, I'm not a baby."_

_He rolled his eyes and chuckled as he swam closer to where she stood. "Just jump in. I'll catch you."_

_"But, when you let go, I'll drown."_

_"I won't let go, I promise" he reassured her, swimming to the edge._

_She paused for a moment before holding out her small pinkie. "Pinkie promise?"_

_He smiled as he brought his larger pinkie out of the water and hooked it with her smaller one, sealing the deal. "Pinkie promise."_

* * *

The promise echoed through her head as she sliced through the surface of the water. It was icy, colder than she'd feared. Some unconscious part of her child-self was proud of herself as she plunged deeper into the freezing black water. That part of her somehow hadn't had one moment of terror― just pure adrenaline. Then, the current caught her and her drowning heart hammered hard against her chest; it felt like the waves were fighting over her, jerking her back and forth between them as if determined to share by pulling her into halves. She knew the right way to avoid a riptide, but there was no shore she could swim to, as far as she knew. And, even if there was, the knowledge would do her little good as she wouldn't know which way it'd be.

She couldn't even tell which way the surface was.

The angry water was black in every direction; there was no brightness to direct her upward. Gravity was all-powerful when it competed with the air, but it had nothing on the waves― she couldn't feel a downward pull, a sinking in any direction. Just the battering of the current that flung her round and round like a rag doll. She fought to keep her breath in, to keep her lips locked around her last store of oxygen.

_"You can do, Carmen! Keep swimming, you can do it! You're almost there!"_

Where? There was nothing but the darkness. There was no place to swim to.

_"I can't! My arms hurt. Help me!"_

_"Not yet. Keep it going. You've got. Don't give up yet― keep swimming!"_

The cold of the water was numbing her arms and legs. She didn't feel the buffeting so much as before. It was more of just a dizziness now, a helpless spinning in the water. But she listened to her brother's voice echoing through her head. She forced her arms to continue reaching, her legs to kick harder, though every second she was facing a new direction. It couldn't be doing any good. What was the point?

_"You can do it! Come on! I'm over here! Swim towards me. You're almost there! Keep going! Don't give up! Keep fighting!"_

Why?

He wasn't really there, and she knew that. The voices she was hearing? All but a memory buried deep within her soul...

However, it was one of the most beautiful ones.

She didn't want to fight anymore. And it wasn't the light-headedness, or the cold, or the failure of her arms as the muscles gave out in exhaustion, that made her content to stay where she was. She was almost happy that it was over. This was an easier death than others she'd faced.

Oddly peaceful.

She thought briefly of the clichés, about how you were supposed to see your life flash before your eyes. She wasn't exactly lucky enough to miss out on that. She didn't see it all. However, the ones she did see only made her heart emotionally ache in sorrow.

She missed those moments, when her mother would tuck her in at night, with her father right behind, watching the scene unfold, with a smile on his face as his wife sang a lullaby. When her mother would dress her up as a Power Ranger for Halloween as she never liked dressing up as a princess. When she would wake up in the middle of the night from a horrible, inexplicable nightmare, and sneak her way up the double-decked bed and slip in beside her brother who would hold her tight and tell her about the new Pokemon cards he'd gotten until she fell asleep. When he taught her how to swim and ride her bike. When they sang together― wrote songs together, dance together to her favorite song, from their favorite movie.

* * *

_"I think I know why the dog howls at the moon!" she cried out, bouncing on the large sofa. "You know what, Eddie?"_

_"What?"_

**_I think I know why the dog howls at the moon..._ **

_"One day―" Bounce. "When I grow older―" Bounce. "I'm gonna get married―"_

**_I say, "Dela, dela, ngiyadela..." when I am with you..._ **

_Bounce. "In Africa." Bounce. "Tanzania."_

_Fred laughed. "Why there?"_

**_"Dela, sondela, mama sondela, I burn for you..."_ **

_"Because." Bounce. "Most of it is a jungle."_

_The boy laughed. "What about most of it being a jungle?"_

**_"Dela, dela, ngiyadela..." when I am with you..._ **

_"Because." Bounce. "The best―" Bounce. "And most important―" Bounce. "Kind of freedom―" Bounce. "Is to be what you really are."_

**_"Dela, sondela, mama sondela, I burn for you..."_ **

_She stopped bouncing. "In a jungle, you don't have to worry about acting― you don't have to put on a mask because no one will judge you. You're free to be who, or what you are― getting married there would mean that the person who will marry me will see me for me and will accept me for who I am from his own... will."_

**_"Sondela, sondela, mama sondela, I burn  for you..."_ **

_Fred stared at her as she started bouncing again. "When― how did you become so... wise? You're only five!"_

_She shrugged. "I'm gonna be―" Bounce. "A phisolopher―" Bounce. "When I grow up."_

_"Don't you mean a philosopher?"_

**_I've been waiting for you all my life,_ **

_Bounce. "That too."_

**_Hoping for a miracle..._ **

_She stopped bouncing, then jumped off the couch and grabbed her brother's hand. "Dance with me!"_

* * *

The current won at that moment, shoving her abruptly against something hard, a rock invisible in the gloom. It hit her solidly across the chest, slamming into her like an iron bar, and the breath whooshed out of her lungs, escaping in a thick cloud of silver bubbles.

Water flooded down her throat, choking and burning. The iron bar seemed to be dragging her deeper into the dark, to the ocean floor.

* * *

**_I've been waiting day and night,_ **

_"I don't know how to dance!"_

**_Day and night!_ **

She wasn't breathing anymore.

_"Me neither!" She pulled him onto the couch, and both started bouncing on it, laughing and singing along as they shook their bodies, creating their own wild dance._

**_I've been waiting for you all my life,_ **

_"I'll be your best man?"_

**_Waiting for redemption..._ **

_Bounce. She shook her head. "Best boy!"_

**_I've been waiting day and night,_ **

_Bounce. "Why 'boy'?"_

**_Day and night..._ **

_Bounce. She smiled. "Forever young, Eddie. Forever young!"_

**_I burn for you..._**

* * *

Her eyes snapped open and she pushed herself. She and Frederick may not have ended in good terms, but he was still her brother and she still loved him. She and her mother may not have spoken in almost ten years, even though they lived together, but Ayden still loved her― she was her mother, after all. She had many other people she cared about now, and, though she would never admit it― she needed them just as much.

She had to survive. She had to live.

Ignoring her aches, she locked her muscles in place and pushed forward, toward where she hoped would be the surface. She pushed her way up, shoving hard against the water, then, finally, her head popped out of the water salt sea water. She inhaled deeply in slight relief at being able to breathe, a slightly relieved smile curling into her lips as her blurry eyes fell upon a seashore. It took her about another ten minutes to push her way forward, through the savage waves, until she finally reached the shore and crawled her way further into the land, as far away from the water she possible, completely ached and exhausted, coughing and wheezing for air― she almost felt asthmatic all over again.

" _This one's bleeding out_..." she heard Reyes' voice say faintly from afar as a waterfall poured from her mouth.

Coughing a bit more, she cleared her scrappy throat and called out in a hoarse voice, "Hello?!"

"...  _put some pressure on it!_ "

"Help!" she cried out.

But she only heard Alex's voice next. " _Come on... come on! Breathe, goddamn it!_ "

Followed by Dr. Whitman. " _I knew something like this would happen! Where the hell are we?_ "

Then Reyes again. " _Come on, Doctor! Help us out here!_ "

Ayden coughed again as she propped herself up on her elbows and glanced back in the direction she could hear the voices coming from. She could see them now, but barely. And she felt too weak to get up, so she called out to them. "Reyes! Jonah!" She coughed again. "I'm here!"

After coughing a bit more, she clenched her teeth and pushed herself up onto her feet. She glanced around, feeling her stomach twist, then, finally, mind made up, she took a decisive step forward, though, just as she did, she received a rather hard blow in the back of her head, knocking her out.

* * *

"Please be here," Elena breathed as she stepped she entered the empty, ruined building, her brother, and compatriots following suite. She spun on her heels and looked at Andrew, brows furrowed. "Are you sure this is it?"

"The tracer I ran led to this location."

"I know, you showed us; it said Mongolia. But it could be anywhere in this country!"

"Her last signals came from  _here_. And, besides, this is the only place she is likely to be; this is the only secret facility in this entire country."

"Let's scout the place," Curtis suggested. Elena hesitated, then nodded as they began to separate the group in pairs.

* * *

Ayden faded in and out of consciousness many times, though she had become clearly aware that she was being dragged into a dark place. She could hear water drops dripping, the sound being followed by an echo; she groaned, and the sound she emitted echoed as well, so she was sure she was probably being dragged into a cave. However, there wasn't much she could do as, every time the thought of escaping came to mind, she faded back out of consciousness. When she faded back in, she could feel herself become suddenly slightly weightless as a thick creaking sound rang through her ears.

When she fully regained consciousness, she gasped as she found herself hanging upside down in some sort of cocoon. She was in a cave, decorated in a slightly spooky way as though prepared for a ritual of some sort. She glanced around and swallowed hard when she noticed a few other similar cocoons hanging around her.

"Help..." she called out. "Jonah? Reyes?" Her cocoon began to swing from side to side as she shouted. "Help!"

But she was alone.

Slightly wheezing, she glanced around as best as she could in her current position. "Got to get down," she told herself.

She noticed a walled altar filled with lit candles and got an idea. Swinging sideways, left and right, to gain enough momentum, she pushed the neighboring sack into the lit candles by the wall. As it ignited, the blaze spread around it, causing it to fall through the wooden floor, and onto the cavern floor. The blaze, however, did not end with the fallen cocoon; it spread up into the sail wrapped around the wooden beam to her left. There was only one way out now, and, though she knew it was going to hurt, she had to do it.

Running her tongue over her chapped lips, she swallowed hard in anticipation. "This... is gonna hurt," she breathed out.

And she started swinging sideways, once more, this time, however, towards the burning beam, to burn the cocoon away. She gasped at the burning pain as her cocoon instantly ignited. Almost a whole agonizing minute later, the cocoon melted away, dropping Ayden to the cavern floor where she fell right into a nastily spiked metal bar that pierced through her side, emitting a scream out of her; though the stitches she had there were months old, from when she'd crashed the chopper on her first rescue mission, she could feel it reopening. Breathing hard, she clasped her hand around it and tugged, wheezing slightly as she struggled to pull it back out from the way it came through. Clenching her teeth, she finally ripped it out of her side, biting her lip as to not scream again.

She held in a relieved sigh as she knew it would only bring her pain; she was now free, but she wasn't feeling too well. Her vision was blurred as she moved gingerly through the only tunnel. Her eyes widened in horror as she entered another cave and discovered a lifeless victim. Holding onto her side, she pushed her way through, squinting her eyes slightly as she approached the hanging corpse.

"Oh, God, what happened to you?" she gasped. By the long hair and the sagged chest, Ayden could tell the victim had been a woman, but her face was almost melted away, as though she had been burned by acid or even just a really burning fire.

Squinting her eyes a bit, Ayden stepped a tad bit closer, her eyes widening when she recognized the victim by the necklace hanging around its rotting neck. A hand flew to her mouth as she choked back a sob.

"Oh, Steph..." she whispered, fighting back tears.

Ayden had met Stephanie aboard the  _Endurance_ when she'd joined the crew. She hadn't been as close to her as she had become with Sam, Alex, and Roth, but they'd gotten along rather well. And to find her here, strung up like this...

Breathing hard, Ayden shook her head in disbelief before quickly turning away and shuffling away from the unfortunate victim. As she turned, Ayden saw two torches hanging from the walls, and grabbed the one on the left, then continued down the tunnel. The further she walked, the more she could hear a faint mumbling echoing through the cave more clearly. She continued on her way, only stopping when she suddenly came upon a blockade. It was all wood and cloths she couldn't help but wonder about, so she used the fire of her newly acquired torch, pushed it down onto the white cloth, thus destroying the barrier, leaving way to a narrow gap. She sighed, taking a deep breath before stepping forward and squeezing her way through it, grunting in irritation when her torch was suddenly extinguished by the water falling from a few gaps of the stone walls.

"Oh, dammit..." she muttered.

She then glanced around once she was through and found, on the right cave wall, a little goblet of fire where she reignited her torch. Glancing around again, she found her way out, though she groaned when she realized what she would have to do to get there.

"I'm really starting to  _hate_  all this fire and water," she mumbled.

She walked over to a wooden scaffolding and struggled a bit to climb it as she was still holding the torch. Once on top, she set the flailing white cloth there on fire and took a step back as she watched the flames make their way over the other blockade, making the barrel there explode. The path was now clear. Jumping down, she got over to the end and climbed up into the newly opened passage. Wincing slightly as she crouched down, she began to sneak her way into the narrow tunnel when, suddenly, she was attacked from behind. She yelped in surprise and panic, dropping the torch as she was pulled backward.

"Let go!" She started to kick blindly, trying to shake off her attacker. "Get off me!"

"Stop struggling!" she thought she heard him say, but she didn't care. She just wanted to get out.

Clenching her teeth, she pulled her leg back and let it snap forward, straight into his jaw before rushing backward, away from him just as a boulder fell in between them, narrowly missing her.

" _Come back! Come back!_ "

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, 'cause I would definitely go back after barely escaping with my life," she muttered, turning away from the fallen rock.

" _Come on, I'm just trying to help you!_ "

She scoffed. "Says the creeper who kidnapped me." She then picked up the torch, crawled further along the tunnel. She had to fight back the urge to back and kill him as she could still hear the man calling out to her.

" _Come back! Come..._ "

Her breathing got heavier as she started wading through the water.

" _Come back! Come on!_ "

She shook her head, glancing around. "Just keep moving," she told herself.

" _Come... Just come back!_ "

She paused for a moment, trying to even her breath as she continued through the flooded tunnel, the water rising up her body as she walked further.

" _I'm just trying to help you!_ " he repeated. " _Come on!_ "

She went further and further until she finally emerged in a large cavern, her torch extinguishing as she passed under a small waterfall.

She groaned. "Not again."

The new cave entry was much more flooded than the previous ones and it was becoming harder to walk. She forced her legs forward against the rushing water, glancing around for a possible exit.

"Need to find a way out." She pushed her way through the junk-filled cavern. She sighed when she found, on the low ramp on the right, another brazier. "More fire... thank god..." she mumbled, relighting her torch.

As she continued on her way, stepping out of the water and onto dryer ground, she frowned slightly as she noticed two cages dangling above the ground, tethered together by some kind of pulley system.

"What kind of contraption is this?" she wondered as she approached it.

Hesitating for a moment, she took a decisive step forward, pressing her torch to the cloth-wrapped poles connected to the pulley system. This released the ropes anchoring the lower cage, making it drop into the water. In this position, it began to collect the debris floating downstream, causing the other cage to, simultaneously, raised up.

She shifted her glance along the rather peculiar system with calculating eyes

"Ah-ha," she mumbled, her equative situation solving itself within a matter of seconds inside her head.

She then ran up the ramp on her right, which led toward the cage above, then around, to the middle of the wooden ledge. She then jumped from there into the raised cage, her weight, in result, lowering that cage, raising the one containing debris, which was then dumped into a third cage at the end of the wooden ledge. Hopping down to the ground, she went up the ramp again and continued around to the end. She stood close to the newly filled cage and pursed her lips in thought, glancing around it for a moment at what she hoped was the last blockade.

"Gotta explode this shit..."

She pressed the torch through the bars of the cage, igniting the wooden debris inside of it. Then, she took a step back and, with a deep breath, shoved hard against the crate, till it fell off the edge. It slid down into the water, carrying flaming debris into the barricade, causing an explosion that cleared the way. Letting out a tired breath in relief, when she finally saw a rather large crack in the stone wall at the other end of the cavern.

She hopped back to the ground and continued through the opening she just made. Following the tunnel toward the crack, she let out a relieved sigh as she could finally see daylight.

"Finally! A way out," she huffed.

Before she could reach it, however, the tunnel collapsed under her feet, causing her to slide down a whole different way. She yelped and cried out in pain as she tried to steer away from the branches along the walls since she knew they would hurt her even more. At the bottom of the slope, she smashed through a barrier and landed in a lower passageway.

"Shit!"

She instantly jumped onto her feet and ran, knowing that, if she lingered that new tunnel, she would gradually take damage from the falling rubble and die. Moving forward along the stream bed, she clambered up the slope, and then ran and came across three gaps over which she knew she had to jump. Not stopping for even a second, she leaped over the first one, almost falling, then ran and leaped over the second, clenching her teeth in pain as she felt her ankle begin to ache. Then, finally, upon the third gap, she tightened her fist around her torch and leaped, almost slipping. Pushing her way up to land, she huffed and winced, pausing for merely a second before continuing on her way as the tunnel continued to collapse around her. As she reached a low tunnel, she let out a small puff of air in slight relief. However, just as she had jumped forward into a crawling crouch in order to crawl her way through the low tunnel, another man grabbed her from behind, causing her to drop her torch once again and yelp in surprise and panic.

"Let go!" she shouted as he pulled her backward. "Let go, you bastard!" She started to kick blindly, trying to shake off her attacker.

"Help you!" she heard him say, but she ignored his petty excuse and continued kicking. She kicked him hard then quickly retreated her foot as, at that moment, a boulder fell in between them. However, she did not get the time to even breathe out in relief as the man somehow tried to push through the large rock, his face and arm appearing.

"Help you!" he insisted as he pushed his way through, causing her to scream and scramble as far away as she possibly could as he jumped forward. To his misfortune, however, before he could reach her again, part of the collapsing tunnel fell on him, killing him instantly.

Breath going wild, Ayden quickly snatched her torch up from the ground and jumped onto her feet and resumed her run, not stopping as she leaped forward, attempting to jump over the next wide gap. However, no matter how powerful the leap was, Ayden missed the ledge and slid down the slope as the tunnel collapsed. Losing her torch down the chasm, though barely managing to hang onto the edge, she pulled herself up and with much effort began to scramble her way up the slope. Suddenly, a boulder came sliding down toward her, though, with a quick and tight grip on the slope, she managed to hang on while simultaneously dodging left. After a few moments, she had to dodge a second boulder by moving to the right before resuming her scrambling to the top, where she finally managed to emerge from the cave into daylight.

Breathing hard, she pushed herself onto her feet, wincing in pain. She glanced down at the hole in her side and sighed, knowing it wouldn't heal quickly anymore as it used to. Letting out a pained sigh, she glanced around, taking in her new surroundings with pursed lips. Stumbling slightly as she re-accustomed herself to the daylight, she moved forward along a path, keeping the ocean on her right for the moment. As she reached the top end of the path, leaning her body against a diagonally grown tree for support, she squinted her eyes a bit when she noticed something afar.

"A lifeboat!" she breathed out, surprised. She frowned when she noticed it was empty. "But where are they?" She paused, lips pursing in thought. "They must have gone inland." Her frown then deepened. "Wait a second... how the hell can I see well from this far?!"

Shaking her head, she took a deep breath before continuing down the path as goal to reach the lower end. She followed the path forward to a fallen tree spanning a chasm.

Her heart clenched in slight fright as it reminded her of the beam she'd had Elena and Damian cross when the two girls had gone to rescue the one-o-sixth; she remembered when it broke before she could even cross it herself, and how she had to leap over the fiery pit below in order to get to the other side. But she couldn't jump here even if she wanted to; the other side was too far away.

"Gotta take it slow," she told herself.

Maybe luck would finally strike her and the tree would only really look more dangerous than it actually is. Spreading her arms out for balance, she stepped out onto the trunk and slowly started to make her way across, her entire body quivering in fear. Reaching the middle, she nearly slipped, but she quickly caught herself. When she finished crossing it, she continued along the path until she came to a gap with the white stone edges. She groaned, grumbling about how she was starting to  _hate_  jumping as well, before she took a few steps backward for a running start, then leaped across, over the gap, grabbing onto the opposite edge automatically. Wincing slightly, she pushed her arms as much as she could until she pulled herself up completely.

She continued down the path, going through many turns, almost falling off the edge in exhaustion, only stopping when she found herself stepping into a clearing where there was a waterfall. She squinted her eyes to look more closely and noticed a crashed plane. Frowning slightly to herself, she moved around to the left, then stepped out onto the detached wing that formed a ledge below the dangling wreckage.

"I can do this," she told herself.

Then she jumped up to grab one of the silver bars on the nose of the plane. She almost lost her grip, but, then, with more determination, she grabbed on again and started climbing the fuselage. She jumped up and leaped up to a higher handhold and, although the plane creaked and shuddered, she began to worry less as she knew there was no hurry at this point. Once she had a firm handhold, she let out a small breath in slight relief she was somewhat safe for the time being; then, she continued her climb upward, then around to the right and out onto the wing. After a moment, she came upon a plain side which promoted her to jump across a wider gap. Leaning out to the right, she pushed herself forward and jumped. When she grabbed onto the next section of the wing, however, she had to tighten her grip to keep herself from slipping; if she didn't, she would fall and die, and she was well aware of that. She resumed her climbing along the wing to the right, quickening her pace as she felt the wing beginning to crumble. She quickly jumped off when she was above reaching-ground and scrambled to safety as the wing broke off.

She paused for a moment, hunching her shoulders, hands on her knees as she gathered herself up before continuing along the narrow path above the ocean. When she came upon a slightly painted, wooden wall, she quickly jumped and scrambled her way up.

"Sam's pack," she mumbled. She then hoped down, on the other side, into the clearing, groaning in pain as she landed. She walked over to Sam's bag but didn't grab anything just yet. She glanced around, silently cursing Clayton for dulling her enhanced senses.

"Sam!"

No response.

She sighed, running a hand through her growing fringe. "They  _must_  have come this way..."

She grabbed Sam's pack and kneeled onto the ground, looking through it. She froze slightly when she found the older girl's camera. Shutting her eyes for a moment, she let out a small breath through her nose before, then the camera aside, before she continued to look through her companion's belonging. She found a pack of matches and let out a sigh, before searching further in, finding a two-way radio.

Her heart started pounding in anticipation as she stretched out the small antenna. "Sam?! Roth?" She threw a glare at the darkening sky as it began to pour rain. "Can anyone hear me?" She clenched her jaw as she got onto her feet, still glancing around. "I've got to find them..." she mumbled as she began to make her way out the other side of the clearing. She groaned as she reached the edge and found another gap.

"God, I'm really starting to  _hate_  these gaps," she grunted.

Then, she jumped as grabbed onto the ledge with the white stone edge, though she couldn't hang on. She fell and slid down the muddy slope into the new area. When she recovered from her muddy slide into this area, she stumbled onto her feet and groaned; the rain was getting heavier. She had to take shelter from the upcoming storm.

Still holding putting pressure on her open wound on her side, she moved forward along the new path she fell upon. As she went further through, she approached a rock overhang and crouched automatically to move underneath it. Following the path a little further she let out a surprised sigh when she discovered a deserted campsite.

"Looks abandoned," she noted.

She moved to the edge of the path to see if there was anyone else, but she saw no one. Plus, it was too dark to see either way. Reaching her hands out to the dripping water from the rock, she collected a bit in her hands and drank it, cringing slightly at the dirt-full taste.

Bringing out the two-way radio, she extracted the small antenna and played with a few buttons, hoping to get a signal of any sort. "Is anyone listening? Please respond." But her only response was the sound of static and the no-signal tone. She let out a defeated sigh, putting the radio away before wrapping her arms around her trembling self while glancing around, bodied-steam escaping through her chapped lips as she breathed in and out.

Walking back to the campsite, she gathered as much dry wood as she could and placed it all on it before bringing out Sam's pack of matches from her back pocket. She opened it and let out a disbelieving breath when she saw there was only one match left.

"You have got to be kidding me," she muttered, shaking her head.

Lips pursed, she grabbed the match and, to her luck, managed to build a fire with it. She sighed in relief; she couldn't manage to make contact with any of the other survivors over the radio, but at least she was safe... for now.

She sat back as the fire began to grow, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. Suddenly, a brief snippet of clear signal startled her from the reverie she was about to fall in. She quickly brought the radio back out only to find its signal fading once more into nothing but static. With a defeated sigh, she placed it beside her, then wrapped her arms around herself again. Hugging herself more tightly as thunder and lightning stroke in the sky.

"This is gonna be a long night," she said softly.


	6. Journals, more crashes and wolves...

The rain was a waterfall.

Ayden didn't see it as an omen— just unavoidable. But the rain or cold wasn't really new to her since Chicago, her birthplace... 'The Windy City', was pretty much the same. It wasn't as vast or uninhabited, but it was often just as cold and rain-pouring... well, as far as she remembered. She hadn't gone back there since she moved out of the country with her brother and mother. However, they hadn't exactly gone on a 'holiday in the sun'. They moved into a town close by the border separating Quebec from Ontario. It was close enough to Ontario to have English equalized to French, but far enough inside Quebec for the town to be swarmed with Quebecors.

The town she lived in was rather beautiful, for a rainy one. Though she had had quite a rough life there, she knew she would always better being there than being in Chicago and, at that moment, in the cold wilderness, she really missed her town. Compared to where she currently was, where everything was dull and almost gray, her town was green: the trees, their trunks covered with moss, their branches hanging with a canopy of it, the ground covered with ferns. Even the air filtered down greenly through the leaves. It was too green— an alien planet. Even the feeling she got there felt alien to her, though, it was her home, even if it hadn't quite felt so in the past few years. It was nothing like back in Chicago. There she used to feel like a stranger, an outcast, never mind she'd only been there when she was five and younger. There, in her town in Canada... it really felt like home. She felt endangered there, yet quite safe. It was confusing, yet she always went along with it.

But now, alone in the jungle... she didn't feel as free as she had once imagined she'd be. Then again, she wasn't in Africa, where she had once imagined herself getting married. She was stranded on an island in Japan, lost alone in the cold, wet and dirty with sweat, grime, and blood staining her clothes. All she really wanted to do now was go back  _home_ , but... just thinking about it... was it really her home anymore? Her brother probably hated her by now, and her mother could probably care less.

She sighed. "Story of my life," she muttered, gently clutching her wounded, rumbling stomach.

She had starved herself since she'd been captured by Hamid Clayton, and only ate once when she'd been aboard the  _Endurance_ , though she didn't eat anything since then as she had only thrown it up a while later. She was rather surprised she hadn't died and had managed to go almost two months without eating, since she'd been taken till after she was found by the  _Endurance_  crew, only nurturing herself with drinks as it was the only thing she could digest, but, now, her hunger was finally catching up to her.

Ayden let out a long sigh as she tried not to think of the torture she had to undergo, though it was rather inevitable. Her mind flashed to her last mission before she'd been abducted. It was colder then, in Norway, but, right now, dressed in a pair of ripped and bloodied wet trousers and a tank top... well, you could guess why she felt like it was freezing cold.

_"Why is it so freaking cold in Norway?" Elena complained._

_"Just be grateful it's barely starting," Ayden said as she blew small puffs of air, glancing up at the barely snow-covered trees; winter had begun later than usual in that region._

A loud crash of thunder snapped the young soldier out of her memories. Small droplets continued to pour down over the skin of her arms and neck and Ayden suddenly realized that she was shivering. What had it been? One or two hours since she'd escaped that godforsaken cave? Waking upside down surrounded by rotting flesh and blood wasn't the nicest greeting that the island she'd washed up upon had to give. And that dead body... god. She still felt sick thinking about it. The sun had just begun to set as she'd stumbled out of that opening narrowly missing being crushed to death, and now night had fallen casting darkness all over the land.

She shoved a hand into the left pocket of her trousers and fished out her small radio that had surprisingly survived her wild arrival. There were a few cracks on it too, and it, too, was covered in dirt and a slight bit of blood, but, when she turned it on, she couldn't help but let out a small relieved chuckle; it worked. Pressing on the recording button, she spoke, her throat raspy and her voice hoarse from all the screaming when she escaped the cavern.

"It's been about a day or two since the  _Endurance_  met its demise. It wasn't my first shipwreck, but... it was my first in which I had one of my darkest moments since I've been in the army." She paused for a moment, frowning slightly. "And, what I've discovered since is that... in our darkest moments... when life flashes before us... we find something. Something that keeps us going... something that pushes us. What pushed me into coming back to life was... my life."

She chuckled softly to herself in disbelief. "I died in the shipwreck, and though it was only temporarily... I died. And my life literally flashed before my eyes. It wasn't my whole life, though..." She inhaled deeply, then exhaled, wincing slightly in pain. "Everything I saw... it was all mostly memories... memories I didn't even know I had anymore."

She coughed. "I woke up on this island... I don't know if this is the one we were aiming for, but... what I  _do_  know is that... there's something strange about it. Now, I'm not just saying that because this is the first island I've been to outside of America. Technically, it's not the first one since the first one was in Mongolia when I was captured in Norway... but, back to my point... God! What I'm saying is that this... the shipwreck happened in a strange way I don't—"

She sighed, rubbing her forehead tiredly, her body still trembling from the cold. "I don't know how to explain this, but... I... I think the only reason we were shipwrecked in the first place was because of this island. Like what happens in that triangle thingy... the Bermuda Triangle! Now, normally I wouldn't be superstitious, but it can't be too much of a coincidence that we weren't the only ones to be wrecked on this island. And there's... well, there  _was_  proof of rituals or whatever being performed in the cavern... scavenger den— or whatever place it was that I woke up in, underground."

She let out a shaky breath. "Something's going on on this island, and I want to find out, but..." She swallowed hard. "I'm scared," she whispered. She then turned off the recorder and put it back into her before wrapping her arms around herself once more.

The brutal cold that had wormed its way around her body as she'd walked in the rain was replaced almost instantly as the roaring heat from the flames engulfed her. At least she wouldn't freeze to death now, maybe just die from hunger instead. No. Ayden couldn't think like that. She had to keep going, keep pushing forward. Hopefully, the storm would subside in the morning so she could search for food. No use now when she had no weapons and possible predators stalking the woods.

Ayden pulled out Sam's camcorder, which was surprisingly still working as well, and pressed play on the oldest entry. She was greeted with the image of herself sitting at her desk back on the  _Endurance_  days before they had been shipwrecked. Sam's voice filtered through the speakers and Ayden tried to imagine her friend was sitting right beside her.

* * *

_"Here's the someday-will-be world's famous archaeologist—"_

_"I'm not gonna be an archaeologist," Ayden cut her off with a mutter, eyes never moving from the notes she was reading._

_"— Ayden Jaubert," Sam continued as though the young soldier had not spoken. "In her newest habitat. She has joined our crew and is now on a dead-set hunt for the lost kingdom of Yamatai," Sam spoke in a rather dramatic voice. "Home to the fabulous Himiko Nēmisu, mythical Sun Queen... an ancestor of yours truly."_

_"Sam... this is serious," Ayden had replied, finally looking up, from the notes she was taking for Roth, to face her new friend._

_"Oh, sweetie... I know. I'm just trying to lighten the mood here. Everyone's so on edge! What are **you**  so worried about?"_

_"This is my first time doing something like this, and... for the first time since I've joined you guys... I've finally gotten close to something, I'm sure of it. I just don't know if the others will listen..." she said leaning back in her chair. "Or even if they should..."_

_"Ayden, as much as you deny it, you know this kind of stuff better than anyone! Seriously. I'm not just saying this to make you feel better. I trust you... Roth trusts you! You got this." Ayden gave her a small smile. "Now let's take a break, okay?"_

_Ayden chuckled, nodding her head. "Okay, okay! And Sam..." She paused for a moment, then said, "Thanks."_

* * *

The camera moved away from her as Sam turned it around to face herself. At the campfire, Ayden smiled at the girl's face coming onto the screen, and for a minute she forgot she was alone on a murderous island.

* * *

_"I haven't known her for too long, but I can tell she's not always this serious."_

* * *

The scenery then changed as the next filmed clip came on. The main crew members were in the kitchen; Jonah was stirring an enormous pot of soup, chuckling under his breath and shaking his head as he glanced back at Roth and Grim who were watching a football match on the small television they both, both men cheering for opposing teams.

Around the eating table were Sam, who was reading an old book on the past researches of the lost kingdom they were all seeking, Reyes, who was tinkering with a small device unknown to the others as she waited for her plate to be served, and Alex, who was surfing through his laptop, while Ayden and Dr. Whitman stood on the side, between Sam and Reyes, arguing about Ayden proposition, which had clearly flustered Whitman.

* * *

_"How can you suggest I'm not serious about this expedition, Ayden? It's not only Sam's family funding us. I put my savings on the line too."_

_The camera turned Reyes as she rolled her eyes and, her eyes never leaving her small device, she said, "We've all got some kind of stake in this." She, then, looked up. "The funding won't last forever Whitman."_

_And then, the camera shifted back to Ayden and Dr. Whitman. "That's exactly why we should push east, not west," the young girl insisted._

_Dr. Whitman sighed. "No one believes Yama..." He turned for a moment and glared at Grim, who had interrupted him with his loud, joyful laugh when his team scored a goal. Whitman, then, turned back to Ayden and spoke louder. "No one believes Yamatai's that far east." He motioned toward the book in Sam's hands as he continued. "The books simply don't support it!"_

_At that moment, Sam looked up from her book as the camera shifted toward her. "Well, whoever wrote those books never found Yamatai," she pointed out._

_Ayden looked at her, fighting back a smile as she nodded in agreement. "And I've talked to Roth about this. There's no point in following in other people's footsteps Dr. Whitman," she tried to persuade as she pointed down at the map in front of them._

_He seemed to falter, for a moment, at her reasoning, but he soon retaliated and shook his head, his hands now resting on his hips. "I refuse to bet my reputation on your hunch!" he objected. "I'm the lead archaeologist here," he continued, placing a hand on his chest._

_Then Grim chose to speak up, the camera instantly shifting his way and zooming in on him as he spoke, still stirring the large pot of soup. "An' when were you last in a field without a TV crew behind you?"_

_Slowly, Dr. Whitman turned around and glared at Grim as he said, "Got thirty years' experience, two PhD's, one in East Asian history. So why don't you just stick to boats, Mr. Grim?" Dr. Whitman said, turning back around to face Ayden, while Grim continued to grumble rather loudly._

_"Ship, Dr. Whitman. It's a ship," he said. "Don't need a PhD to know that."_

_Ayden sighed, oblivious to the camera shifting back her way as she decided to speak up in order to steer the conversation back to the point. "Look. Going east will take us directly to the Dragon's Triangle." She pointed at the map and watched Whitman's brows furrowed as he followed her finger to the direction she was pointing at. "If Yamatai's what we're looking for, that's where we need to go."_

_As she said that, the camera zoomed a bit out, catching Jonah in the shot as he set the bowls of soup for everyone at the table. As he set one in front of the empty chair Ayden was standing by, he looked up at her with kind, fond eyes._

_"Ayden, little Wise girl... I'd follow you almost anywhere, but that place has bad energy."_

_"Bad storms more likely," Alex chimed in. "Makes the Bermuda Triangle look like Disney World..." Almost everyone chuckled at that one, including Ayden. "Sign me up," he added, looking at Ayden with soft eyes._

_Ayden smiled and looked back at Whitman, eyes filled with more determination. "Look, I'm not the kind of person who believes in all these superstitious things, but the stories do say that Queen Himiko Nēmisu could summon storms," she said, standing taller. "Myths are usually based on some version of the truth!" Whitman crossed his arms and looked up at the ceiling for a moment, in exasperation, as Ayden went on. "What if Yamatai was somewhere in the Triangle itself?"_

_"Look," said Alex, grabbing everyone's attention, including the camera's, as he turned his laptop around for everyone to see. "This is the satellite imagery from inside the Dragon's Triangle."_

_Everyone studied it, though Sam was the one to speak up their worries._

_"That doesn't look good," she said._

_Grim looked at it a moment longer, before walking back to the stove. "If it's wet, I can sail on it," he reassured them with a nod._

_Whitman uncrossed his arms as he looked at the sailor in disbelief. "Oh, don't tell me you're seriously cons—"_

_But Roth finally chose to speak, cutting him off. "Reyes is right, we don't have the funds to piss about. It's now or never," he said, standing from his stool and walking over to them. "Ayden's offering fresh ideas and a plan. I'm the captain here, and it's my decision." And then he pointed down at the map. "We're going into the Dragon's Triangle."_

_Whitman gave him the evil eye as he picked up his bowl. "Why am I even here?" he said, clearly annoyed, before walking off._

_Ayden looked after, then sighed as she sat down on her chair. She looked up and blinked in slight confusion when she found Roth looking at her expectantly._

_"Go on... show us your plan."_

_She smiled and leaned in closer to show him on the map._

* * *

Another flash of thunder and Ayden realized she'd been so deep in her thoughts that the camcorder had reached the end of its footage. A nearby owl hooted over the sound of the wind and rain hitting the ground as she put the camera to one side; she could always look back to the footage if she ever needed to. God knows that if she didn't get off this island soon, then there would be no doubt she'd re-watch footage of her new friends. Lying down her side, she was reminded of the injury she'd sustained back in the caverns as pain ripped through her left side.

"Ah, son of a..." She groaned sitting back up, clutching the wound; she was lucky that she hadn't lost much blood from it.

Ayden knew that in a few days if the sedative didn't leave her system, her wound would no doubt get infected, but it wasn't like she had much choice in the matter. She shuffled onto her other side, hoping to find more comfort front from this position. In the end, she knew that it would continue to hurt throughout the night no matter where she laid down. Ignoring the pain as best she could, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep. Tomorrow she would hunt for some food, before finding the others. Dear God, please let her find them.

Before she knew it, Ayden's thoughts of the _Endurance_ and her new friends blurred into dreams as she dozed off beside the fire.

* * *

Elena had found the journal under a desk in the abandoned building her team had scouted in Mongolia. There had been many signs of people being captured and experimented on, but they couldn't tell if Ayden had been there. No blood sample Andrew had his colleagues analyze was a match to her DNA... but, then again, what if her DNA had changed from being experimented on? Had she been experimented on? Elena sighed; there was no way to know that, but it wasn't unlikely in a place like that.

The unit had been spending the past three weeks in one of the American bases located just outside of the country. They were doing the usual; training, while Andrew and his team of scientist tried to find another possible location. They couldn't go back to their Al-Qaeda mission without their Captain. Plus, even though Elena was Ayden's second in command and was perfectly capable of calling the shots herself... it just wouldn't be the same. They had been going on the mission for almost a year now and had all gotten used to following Ayden's orders— Elena got used to following her orders.

She was a total wreck— it was a wonder the Colonel hadn't forced her to go back home. It also came as a surprise that he hadn't called off the search on Ayden; he was usually very impassive when it came to someone missing. The capture of the one-o-sixth, for instance; if it hadn't been for Ayden going to rescue, along with Elena, he would've sent the condolence letters he'd been writing.

"Elena!" She looked up and saw her brother standing by the door. "You coming to train, or what?"

She hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. "Already did my hour."

He nodded and turned to leave, though he retaliated when he noticed the journal in her hands. "What's that?"

She mentally cursed herself for not hiding it quickly but answered him either way. She didn't want to do anything alone at this point. "I don't know. I found it when we scouted the building in Mongolia. Haven't checked it yet, though."

He frowned, entering the room and sitting down beside her. "Why didn't you say anything?"

She sighed. "I don't know. I haven't been able to think clearly since she's been gone, Damian," she admitted.

He looked at her, then glanced down at the book; he was tempted to just grab it and read it himself, but he knew better than to just throw himself to the sharks. This was evidence. Something that could probably help them in their search for Ayden.

"We should show it to Andrew," he said.

His sister frowned at the journal, simply staring at it with intense eyes. After a long moment of silence, she finally nodded and the pair went off to Andrew's temporary office to show him the journal.

"Start reading from Phase 2," said Clara.

Andrew gave her a weird look. "Why?"

"Because I said so. Go."

Rolling his eyes, he began.

**_Experiment A608, Phase 2 (injection of Serum 515)_ **

**_Personal Journal of Dr. Hamid Clayton,_ **

Damian's jaw clenched at the name.

**_December 19, 2012._ **

_Phase two of the Military experiment A608 code-name 'Aliema' has commenced. So far, Subject seems passive and overall unresponsive to most stimuli. Her mental age is equivalent to that of an adult. Her attitude is that of a regular teenager; moody, stubborn, rebellious._

"He speaks of the subject being a teenager and a female," said Clara. "It must be Ayden... right?"

_We have begun injecting the Serum, it has only been three hours since the initial injection and A608 already shows slightly increased aggression. She screams at anyone who dares enter her cell. It is unknown whether this is due to the drug, or just a natural reaction to the pain of the injection._

The look on Elena's face was clearly one of terror, while her brother's was void of emotion; Andrew simply frowned as he continued to read the journal entries out loud.

**_December 20, 2012._ **

_'Aliema' has been temporarily diagnosed as blind. It is unknown whether this is due to the serum or the illness she had recovered from yesterday. She appears to be adapting well, her other senses making up for the loss of vision. Subject's bones have increased in density, hardening to a much more inhuman strength than before._

Damian had a murderous look in his eyes.

_Pain, another thing to note about. It is unknown whether the Subject actually feels pain as she had previously been a victim and survivor to an explosion in the abouts of the American military base in Kabul._

"How the heck does he know—"

"Keep reading Andrew."

He sighed. "Fine," he muttered.

_Her DNA remains unlike anything I have ever seen before. Unfortunately, it is still scientifically unreproducible. However, the possibility of breeding it is still unknown._

**_December 21, 2012._ **

_While A608 was being given her daily injection she lashed out, striking at my assistant William Alisher. She was swiftly restrained and kept tied down for the rest of the tests. We will use more caution in the future._

"Go further," Damian instructed.

**_January 3, 2012._ **

_'Aliema' is showing unconscious animalistic reactions. In the past two days, she has killed four of my colleagues in her sleep by literally ripping their—_

"Stop," Elena quickly cut him off, her face paler than usual.

"But I'm not—"

"Andrew, that's enough for today," Clara cut him off, snatching the journal from his hand. "Keep searching," she told him, nodding toward his snoozing computer before grabbing onto Elena's arm and leading her out of the office, dragging Damian behind.

* * *

Back on the island, the next morning, when the rain had cleared out, Ayden set out to find food. She followed another path down the hill, following a deer that crossed her path. As she turned around to the right, she began nearing a small stream, where she noticed a corpse hanging from a tree.

"Oh, God..." she muttered, grimacing as she looked up at the unfortunate victim. She was soon distracted by something big wrapped around the body and squinted her eyes. "Wait... I can use that bow!"

She went on forward and approached the bunker on the other side of the stream. As she moved closer, she found the quiver of arrows, reached down for it and secured it to her back, tightening the straps in a way that wouldn't hurt her. She then went on alongside the bunker and stopped when she found more arrows leaning against the tree from which the man was hanging. She grabbed them and put them in the quiver with the rest before continuing on her way. She then stopped at the foot of the bunker and climbed onto its roof, then jumped across the small gap and stepped out onto the branch lodged in the fork of the tree near the dangling man. She almost lost her balance while crossing the branch, though, luckily, she regained it, then leaned to the right to reach out and grab the longbow.

She sighed once she got back onto her feet, after falling to the ground from the branch, and quickly snatched the bow from the corpse; finding that bow had been a simple rare batch of dumb luck— only five minutes into searching for food, Ayden had stumbled upon that hanging corpse with the bow slung over its body. To be honest, Ayden hadn't expected to come across any form of weapon on the island, but then thinking back to her earlier encounter with that savage man in the cave had Ayden changing her mind. How many other shipwrecked people had he brutally murdered? She shook her head, trying not to think about it as she walked further away from the corpse's rotting form. As a weapon, it was simple enough. Whoever made it had done so with limited resources; a bunch of bendy branches wrapped together with string and bits of cloth.

"Let's hope this still works," she mumbled. Sure it might not be powerful, but it would do for now. "Just remember Roth's sayings..."

_You can have the best form and technique in the world, but it won't mean a thing if you can't focus._

It was only when Ayden shot her first prey did she realize how terrible her aim had become; it was hard to focus when your mind was clouded with dizziness caused by an irritating sedative that was stuck to your system.

"Those bloody bastards," she muttered, mentally cursing Clayton and all the other people who helped him experiment on her.

Luckily she'd hit the deer she was hunting enough to knock it to the floor, but not enough to kill it instantly. By the time Ayden had made her way over to her kill, she'd realized what a mess of it she'd made; the poor thing was grunting and whining in pain as it slowly bled to death.

"I am so sorry," she whispered to the stag, with sincerity, as she quickly ended its pain with another arrow, before slicing open its belly to gut it.

Looking at the deer carcass, Ayden was beginning to regret that she'd never dared herself to take that survivor's training class, even if it hadn't been part of her program, back at the college. It would've helped her a great deal at the current date.

It was nearing dusk by the time the young soldier finally reached her camp with her food. She'd just finished eating the meat when static came over the two-way radio she'd picked up from Sam's pack.

" _This is Conrad Roth, captain of the Endurance, we are shipwrecked on an island inside the Dragon's Triangle._ "

"Holy shit!" It was Roth! Ayden was relieved; she could finally talk to someone on this island who she actually knew. Up until this point, Ayden didn't have a clue whether Sam or Roth had survived. She'd only caught glimpse of Reyes, Jonah, Alex, and Whitman on the beach before she was knocked unconscious by that savage man.

"Roth!" Ayden all but shrieked into the receiver.

" _Ayden?_ " he replied.

"You're alive!"

" _Easy, easy_ ," he reassured. " _Are you okay? What happened?_ "

Ayden proceeded to retell her story to the ex-marine, including every last detail. She struggled to hold back tears when she told him about that dead body tied up in the cave in what looked like some strange ritual. The past day had been like some terrible nightmare where you hoped to wake up from but never did. A lone tear rolled down Ayden's dirty cheek as Roth tried to calm her.

" _Ayden! Listen to me! I sent an SOS from the Endurance before I abandoned her, hopefully, someone caught it. I've spoken to the others; we're regrouping at my location..._ "

"Please come and get me!" Ayden begged, cutting him off, and soon began hating herself and mentally scolding herself for acting so vulnerable; she was a soldier, she wasn't supposed to do that.

Roth sighed. " _I have to stay here_."

"It's fine," she replied sighing.

" _You can do this Ayden. Remember what you told me when we were finishing up the plan? You said the key was knowing that all you've got to do is just..._ "

"Keep moving," Ayden finished for him.

" _Remember everything I've taught you on the way, Ayden, you're ready for this. And keep your radio on._ "

Ayden nodded absentmindedly. "Okay," she answered as Roth's voice left her.

She took a few deep breaths before gathering her things and setting off back down the path towards where she found the bow. Ayden knew she was in a better position than any ordinary shipwreck survivor. She could climb, she could navigate, and she could hunt. She could do this.

She was Captain freakin' Shades.

Ayden made her way back through the forest, and out of nowhere, she heard-

"Music?"

At first, she thought she might be imagining it as a result of trauma or stress, but as she neared the stream where she found her bow, it got louder. In fact, it happened to be coming from inside a mysterious looking old shack; an old shack that looked like the setting of one of those horror films where the girl goes inside the abandoned house, while you scream at your TV for her to turn around. Of course, Ayden was skeptical. But after looking around for another available route to Roth's position only to find there was none, meaning that creepy music or not, she had to go in and investigate.

"Hello?" she called out, hoping that no-one would reply. "Is someone there?"

No answer.

Cautiously, Ayden stepped into the shack. It was small inside, to no surprise, but she saw that there looked to be a ladder of some sort leading down into a tunnel. Ayden walked over and picked up an already lit burning torch, peering down into the darkness. It could be a way through. Suddenly, a large gust of wind appeared from nowhere and slammed the door shut, leaving her trapped.

"Oh, God, are you fuckin' kidding me?" she muttered, shaking her head in disbelief.

She sighed. Now she had to descend into the tunnel. Ayden climbed down the ladder and began to make her way through the underground pass, where she was now up to her waist in cold murky water. And if Ayden thought the dead body she found with the bow had smelled, she was gravely mistaken.

The water stunk.

"My sense of smell just had to be enhanced, didn't it?" she grunted, then she shook her head once more. "What the hell am I doing?"

Luckily Ayden didn't have far to walk in the water and the tunnel led to a dimly lit room, with candles and markings.

"What are these markings?" she wondered squinting her eyes. Her eyes widened in slight fright when she noticed how similar they were to the ones that were in the cave she'd woken up in, the previous day.

Shit.

"I really hope that man does not have friends that live here and are as crazy as he was," she gulped.

There was a door directly in front of her, but it was locked. She needed to look for a crowbar of some sort. Taking in her surroundings, Ayden noticed that a few barrels and other flammable material were blocking an entrance into a room next door. The material burnt away pretty fast and Ayden was able to make her way into what was some kind of abattoir; she hoped that the meat that was around her was deer and not human. Scratch that, this was the worst smell ever. Holding her nose and trying not to gag, Ayden pulled out a pry ax from a lump of raw meat next to an old record layer that was the source of the mysterious music. This would hopefully open the door. Unfortunately for Ayden, after opening the door with the pry ax, there was more smelly water to crawl through before she could exit to the surface.

Ayden had never been more relieved to be back in the fresh air. As she stowed her torch, she heard a muffled female voice talking in the distance.

" _Hold on, let me find out_."

Wait a minute. That voice sounded like Sam's! As Ayden grew closer, she heard Roth's voice over a radio in the distance.

" _We're on the south-west side_." It must be Sam! Seconds after hearing Roth's voice, an unfamiliar one spoke up too.

" _They'll need to follow the path; it's a bit of a climb._ "

Ayden didn't recognize the gruff, sly male voice. She pulled out her bow, ready to strike if needed. Right now, Ayden didn't trust anyone who wasn't part of the  _Endurance_  crew.

" _Did you get that?_ " Sam said; Ayden presumed she was talking into the radio.

" _Got it._ " That was Reyes, Ayden knew it.

" _We've got a fire. Look for the smoke._ "

Sam was right around the corner. Ayden ached to go rushing in and greet her friend in a much-needed hug. However, she needed to be aware of her surroundings. This man that was with Sam, Ayden had no idea if he was friend or foe, and that meant she needed to be cautious. She peered her head around the corner to see her friend sat on a makeshift bench beside a roaring fire. Unlike Ayden, Sam was unscathed; no cuts, no bruises, just a bit of dirt here and there.

"Ayden!" Sam exclaimed, standing up abruptly with the radio still clutched in her hand. "You made it!"

"Sam, thank goodness." The soldier sighed in relief, relinquishing her grip on the bow.

Ayden wasn't the only one happy to see her friend. Sam had been worried sick ever since the wreck about the sixteen-year-old girl. Before the storm had struck, Sam had luckily been up on deck chatting with one of the crew about cameras and tripods, meaning that when the  _Endurance_  crashed onto the island, she had come out unscathed. Albeit she was alone and shaken, she was not hurt. On the other hand, Sam knew that Ayden had been in her cabin and was probably reading; the worst possible place to be if the ship sunk.

Ever since washing up on the shore, the filmmaker had not stopped wondering whether the young girl who had taken up the little sister figure in her life had managed to get out. When Reyes and the others contacted her via radio, she was desperate to know if Ayden was with them, but they were as in the dark as her. To see her there alive and well... hold on. What was that on the left side of Ayden's stomach? Christ... was it blood? Had Ayden been impaled with a pike or something? She'd thought twisting her foot on a loose tree root was bad enough.

Ayden's face went blank and her posture went from being relaxed to tense as someone moved to her right. A man, probably in his late forties, stood up and appeared to be relying on a makeshift crutch to support his weight.

Sam noticed her friend's behavior and reassured her. "It's okay, he's one of us."

Ayden hesitated, before she loosened her hold on her bow again, which she hadn't realized she'd been gripping so hard; she was surprised she didn't break it with her enhanced strength, but... then again, she didn't know how strong she was anymore, ever since the experimentation Hamid had done on her.

"You're too trusting... it'll get you killed one day," she muttered, low enough for only Sam to hear. When the latter did hear that, however, she frowned slightly but dismissed it either way as her new ally spoke up.

"I'm sorry if I startled you," the man said, his voice smooth and calm. "This place would make anyone jumpy. We just spoke to your crew, they're on their way."

Ayden acknowledged the man but said nothing. It was Sam who broke the silence in the end, pointing to her ankle.

"Look, he bandaged my foot."

The soldier pitied her friend but was at the same time glad that Sam hadn't gone through any of the inflicted horrors she had.

"Oh, it was the least I could do," said... wait what was his name?

Strange.

As if reading her mind, the man spoke up once more holding out his hand for Ayden to shake. "My manners... I'm sorry, I'm Mathias. A teacher by trade." Ayden carefully returned the handshake, feeling the contrast of Mathias' large rough hands on her own. "Not really cut out for island life I'm afraid," he finished with a little laugh before shuffling to sit back down near the fire.

Sam studied her friend's appearance, noticing her ruffled hair and faint dark circles under her eyes. Ayden looked like she was in need of a long rest.

"Sweetie," she began, using her affectionate name for Ayden that made the girl practically melt at the motherly affection. "You look exhausted, sit down."

"Yeah..." Ayden replied as she moved to sit beside the campsite, a little bit disorientated.

"Oh, here, I thought you might want this." Ayden gave Sam a curious look as she held out a small familiar bag. "It has the things you had on you when we found you in Mongolia."

Ayden eyes lit up slightly as she grabbed the bag from Sam and brought out her scouter, looking at the damaged item with a fond look on her face. She started to absentmindedly tinker with it, pressing on the operating button as Mathias decided to break the silence.

"Sam here was just telling me about the Sun Queen," he informed.

"Right! Himiko!" Sam chirped.

"Can you tell me more? I'm intrigued."

"Well, believe it or not, a couple thousand years ago Queen Himiko Nēmisu pretty much ran things in Japan."

Ayden shook her head and let out a small laugh at her friend's enthusiasm. Sam had pretty much told Ayden this story straight away when they met after she found out that the young female soldier had studied some bits of Japanese history in her college Western Civilization course. Since then, Ayden swore she'd heard it about a hundred times from Sam.

"She loves telling this story," she said, speaking to Mathias for the first time.

"Himiko was beautiful, enigmatic... but also ruthless and powerful! Legend says she had shamanistic powers."

"And this is where she loses me," Ayden confessed, baffled at Sam's willingness to believe in the supernatural. She was actually like Ayden used to be in that retrospect.

"Well there's always some truth to myths," replies Mathias with a glint in his eye that made Ayden a slightly bit more warry.

"She commanded an army of Samurai warriors," Sam continued as Ayden felt her eyes go heavy. "Her magnificent Stormguard. They rode the very winds into battle, laying waste to all who opposed them. They say the sun rose at Himiko's command and she ruled everything its rays touched..."

By this point, Ayden was desperately trying to keep her eyes open. Hunting all day, crawling through that god awful water; it had really taken its toll on the girl. She really tried to stay away for Sam's sake, but what harm would a short nap do?

"... from the mountains to the sea and beyond."

" _But what happened to her?_ "

With Sam's soothing voice and the heat from the fire, Ayden couldn't help but fall asleep. Then, what felt like only seconds later, Ayden jolted awake as thunder jolted her from her nap. It was only when her eyes stopped blurring from sleep did she realize she was alone.

Sam was gone. And so was Mathias.

Ayden scrambled to her feet and called out for them both. She got no answer except for the pitter patter of rain. Damn it! This is what she feared most. She'd known something was off when she sat down at that fire. Instinct had told her not to trust the Mathias, but she'd let her guard down anyway for the sake of her friend.

"SAM! SAM!" she shouted desperately into the darkness.

Ayden pulled out her bow and ran back around to the path where she'd walked from the underground tunnel, hoping to see the pair there. But there was nothing. Racing back and past the fire, she stumbled down some old steps, flailing desperately like a lost child. If only she'd looked where she was going and not had her senses clouded by desperation, Ayden might have seen the bear trap that she walked onto.

She screamed as the metal jaws clamped down on her left foot. Pain seared through her as it dug into her flesh. Ayden tried in vain to pull the metal apart, every twitch making the trap more unbearable. Breathless and scared like a trapped animal, she still called out for her friend.

"Shit!"

Still, she tried, heaving the metal jaws in some lost hope they'd just fall off. That is until she heard a sound that froze her to the spot. She shivered as the nearby sound of wolves could be heard howling with glee. Panicking, she grabbed her bow; she'd have to fight them off while stuck. Her breaths grew shallower as the howling got closer. She prayed that they weren't after her and that they'd found a wounded stag instead or something, but she knew that was just blind hope. The wolves could smell blood, and they were coming for it— they were coming for her.

* * *

Back at the military base on the outskirts of the country Mongolia, Andrew sat in his office, his ears perking and back straightening when he heard a familiar beeping noise coming from his computer.

" _Sir, there has been a sudden movement that has caused something abnormal_ ," his AI suddenly informed them.

Andrew went back to his computer and started looking at the map where the 'abnormal' thing had just occurred. "Good job. Location?"

" _Japan. The Dragon's Triangle. I have managed to track down the new scouter you gave Miss Jaubert on her last mission in Norway, Sir_."

Andrew whacked himself in the head. "Of course, I'm so stupid. The scouter. Goddammit, why didn't you tell me sooner?"

" _You didn't ask, sir_."

"I'll go tell the Colonel," Elena said, for the first time a smile appearing on her face. "Marvin, Dan, can you guys get a plane?"

Daniel nodded. "Of course."

It didn't take long before the main members of the Feral Force were loading a plane. As Elena walked up the ramp, she found herself stopping short on her tracks with a skeptical look on her face when she noticed her brother. He was dressed in his usual navy blue combat suit, but he had a small, baby-blue blanket draped over his elbow.

"Uh... what's the blanket for?" Elena pointed towards the blanket that Damian was holding in his arms.

He gave her a blank look. "For Carmen," he replied. "She might be cold."

Anthony hesitated, from behind Elena. He didn't know Ayden as well as Elena, but he knew what would undoubtedly be on her mind and her need for a blanket didn't fit into any of those categories.

"I don't think that will be necessary, buddy."

Damian frowned. "Why not?"

Elena was the one that informed him. "Listen, Damian, you heard what was written in the journal; Ayden's been through a lot. She might not be the same for a little while. We're gonna have to be patient with her, if she doesn't react like she normally would."

"I'm always patient with her!" he said, clearly offended.

The Scottish soldier walked up behind them and cleared his throat. "I think what Elena and Anthony are trying to say is that there might be more emotionally damaged than physical."

"Enough with the dreary subject," Andrew said from the front seat, where he was telling the pilots— Marvin and Daniel— where to go. "Whatever happens she will still be our little Den-Den, no matter what."

Anthony frowned as he walked closer. "Is that it?"

The AI had told them it was a tropical island, but now it looked more like a dead one.

Elena gulped, her relief beginning to fade. "Is that—"

"We don't know for sure," Andrew tried to reassure him. "So don't get teary-eyed with me, you two. Land the plane."

All was quiet as the team shook off the cobwebs of a challenging mission. The plan had actually been going accordingly, that is, however, until the plane began to be pulled toward the island in a rather strange way. Part of the situation looked as though the aircraft was being magnetically pulled toward the island, while the other part seemed more as though it had been electrocuted and was now plummeting. Andrew finally opted for the second possibility when he noticed Daniel's body suddenly vibrate as though he'd been stung by electricity and stinging burns suddenly appearing on his arms as well as on Marvin's, who was co-piloting the plane.

Andrew, clearly annoyed with the sudden shift in the air, demanded, "Jones, Lewis, what's going on back there? You're not doing any of your elaborate stretches are—" His words were cut off by another sudden loop of the jet.

They all, except Daniel and Marvin, who were both strapped in their seats, were lifted up and hit the roof. Damian had a second to catch Elena before she collided with the ceiling, which would have been very painful. He was aware of the fact that the plane was dipping forward and using all his strength he managed to grab a handlebar, for support, with his sister knocked out in his arms, completely oblivious to their current surroundings.

"Lewis, what's going on—"

Abruptly the jet turned the right way up and Damian had to let go of the bar otherwise he would have experienced an eye shutting, ear-splitting, neck cracking, headstand. Andrew paused for breath before running to the pilot area and yelled with surprise and terror at the unconscious pilots, rolling around with control panels being knocked left, right and center.

"Guys, Jones and Lewis are dead!" he screamed.

"What!"

"That's impossible..."

"Who, did it?"

"Ah, Vinny? Dan?" The last one came from a crumbling Elena, who was suddenly lying on Anthony's chest, his head was pushed back as he tried to shake off the blow and take in the unlikely information.

As if suddenly hearing the news— whilst Anthony was still processing it— Elena sprang away from him and joined a mouth-gaping Carson whose eyes were close to tears. In any other situation he would have vaporized anybody for seeing him in such a state, but right now he wasn't the only one. Red was choking back a sob and Anthony's chocolate brown eyes were glued to the young Shostakovitch.

He was mesmerized that she hadn't fallen apart at the seems of having been so close to the pilots in their team, or that she hadn't erupted and sent the still spinning jet down to the ocean to sink with her heart. But then her small, delicate fingers rested with the lightest touch on Jones' neck, and then Lewis'. Her pupils grew in the blinding sunlight that the jet was reaching for.

Her nonchalant voice challenged anyone to state otherwise, "They're alive, you moron!" She groaned in exasperation. "How does she deal with you," she muttered in disbelief.

Andrew's tears melted away as quickly as they'd risen. Red's charged forwards, his finger replacing Elena's. "J-just... h-help me g-get them to the table?"

With the help of her brother, Elena obliged, taking both pilots toward the offered aid. Precipitously the jet rounded a stomach-churning corner in mid-air and the Scottish soldier was bashed around from wall to wall until his eyes smacked open and he looked around the spinning room.

_What was going on?_

He saw a nauseous Andrew roll in mid-air, Curt grabbed his leg before he almost collided with the bridge button. That wouldn't have been good! Chris curled in on himself as his body was thrown against the ceiling, or was it the floor? Anthony peeked around the corner and saw Daniel's unconscious body caging a struggling Elena against the wall. Huang was slowly rising and falling under the table. Red felt terror and suspense build like a brick wall inside his veins.

Cautiously, Andrew yelled at his AI, "What the fuck is going on?" Though hardly anybody heard due to the uproar the bodies of the frantic and helpless avengers were making whilst they were flung from wall to wall like lifeless rag dolls.

" _Sir, it appears that the plane is being attracted by some magnetic pull toward the island. Mr. Lewis and Mr. Jones tried to counterattack it, but they both received some sort of electrical shock_ ," the usual inanimate, robot voice started to lower until it was a long-held yarn. " _And that knocked them both unconscious_." His voice fizzled in and out of focus.

Trying to suppress a scream, Elena squirmed, as the sharp medical instruments gone out on display had set out earlier pocked and prodded her and Daniel's bodies. Daniel was wrapped around her, unaware of the immediate protection his sleeping figure was giving her. But still, the odd knife sliced her skin, sending shivers and sparks of pain down her back.

Against he, the sharp fingers of pain dragged a blood curdling, ululating scream from her. Tearing the veins and vessels, that intricately interlaced her heart, from her chest as pain embedded itself in her mind. She felt the word engraved on her eyelids, burning like a punch to the gut. If she could have collapsed forward she would have, she felt like shrinking inside herself, going into hibernation and crawling in her shell as the plane somersaulted, landing the right way up. During this painful duration of spinning, Daniel had floated forward a fraction and Elena's body uncontrollably went to follow. Before she had a chance to steady herself a sharp pointed instrument dug between their bodies and right before gravity was about to push it into Daniel's back, the plane changed course and Daniel's back moved with unstoppable speed and inserted the miniature blade into Elena's chest. Blood ran from her wound and her eyes saw stars as her cheeks drained.

Daniel muttered under his breath as he came to, "Elena..." When he felt the sticky feeling of spilling blood, he protectively wrapped the fifteen-year-old up in his arms and put her down on the dented hospital table in the center of the jet. "Red! Come 'ere! Elena's been hit!"

The redheaded soldier who was the only to know how medically aid someone correctly materialized next to the main pilot of their team. "H-how?"

Daniel's ears turned red. He held a crimson colored knife in his fingers.

Andrew began yelling orders. "That can wait! Lewis, Jones is still unconscious, so get your ass back to the controls before..." He spoke too soon as the plane tipped like a teapot forward, threatening to enter the stormy looking ocean. "Shit! Shit! Shit! E. get us under control."

All the boys, relying on instinct, ran to Elena careful to avoid her wound as they buckled her in a seat and did the same for themselves as Daniel tried to regain control of the ship, with Marvin's help, who had thankfully reawakened.

A thunderous silence established in Damian's head as a pool of memories clouded his vision. His eyes froze over as he remembered the night he and his unit had been captured all those months ago. But then, Ayden appeared into his mind— how she saved them, and how he thought she was an angel when he woke up all those days later in the hospital. But then... his heart began to ache as he remembered how she wasn't there with them.

His muscles flexed as his eyes returned to his surroundings. Elena was staring at him, he realized, trying to conceal a blush and failing as it came to his mind that he knew in what way he thought of her best friend.

"Try to relax, brother, we're not dead yet." Her amusement returned to her cheeks, though her smile did not reach her eyes.

"You don't sound too hopeful." His hands unclenched and his nails removed themselves from digging into his palms.

She snorted, wincing slightly in pain. "Ha, you try sounding cheery with a knife wound in your stomach. And you never know. I might get lucky and save the world from a thousand more press conferences with Mr. self-centered-genius-billionaire-cry-baby over there."

Andrew turned, his brows knitted perfectly. "What did you just say, Shorty?"

The siblings shared a glance and out of the blue, the plane abruptly crashed into a beach, sending sand over the windscreen. As the plane flipped over, Damian's eyes never left Elena's as he silently made a promise to her.

He would find Ayden, even if that's the last thing he would do.

* * *

Meanwhile, deep within the woods of the island, Ayden found herself to still be stuck in her helpless position, foot caught in the large animal trap. Though she had been painfully tortured and experimented on, this was almost as painful; she could feel the sharp, metal teeth of the trap, digging through her boot, and into her flesh.

"Get off me, you bastard!" she screamed as the full weight of a large wolf jumped onto her helpless form.

The beast had sprung from the bushes towards Ayden with its sharp teeth, as a flash of lightning lit up the night sky. Before she could even aim properly, the wolf had already begun snapping at her, trying to get a taste of her flesh. Its snarling jaw was only a few inches from her face when Ayden quickly grabbed an arrow from her quiver and dug the head into the wolf's neck. The wolf's body went slack as its life drained out and Ayden forcefully pushed the huge creature off. She didn't have long before another one was upon her, but this time she was ready for it. Ayden had fired another arrow into the wolf's skull before it was even a meter near her. Adrenaline pumping through her veins, she waited for another attack but luckily none came. The wolves had backed off for now.

"Thank god," she gasped before turning her attention back to the foot caught in the bear trap.

It still hurt like hell and didn't seem to be coming loose anytime soon. Shit, what was it Roth had taught her about traps? Actually, wait, did he ever mention them to her? Of course not, Ayden, why would he? Bears weren't exactly expected to be found on a deserted island! She mentally kicked herself.

"Over here! I found Ayden!" came the familiar voice of Joslyn Reyes as she appeared from the bushes, where the wolves had once been, holding a gun.

"Reyes!" Ayden yelled.

Reyes jogged over to Ayden as the rest of the crew climbed up the hill. Ayden had never been so relieved to see the faces of Jonah, Alex, Grim and bloody hell, even Whitman. It was only when she moved her leg again did she remember the excruciating pain in her foot.

"Let go," ordered Reyes whilst aiming her gun at the trap before firing. The contraption immediately loosened up and so did the pressure on Ayden's ankle. Jonah's big form knelt down beside Ayden and pried the trap's jaws open with a heavy grunt.

"It's good to see you, Wise girl," he said helping her up to her feet.

She forced a smile. "I'm so glad you're here, is Sam with you?"

Ayden hoped desperately that this was all just a big hoax, and that Sam was alright and hadn't been accosted by Mathias and was about to jump out from the trees and yell 'surprise!' before engulfing her in a hug.

"She was with you..." Jonah replied.

 _Oh, no_. She'd been taken; Ayden nearly began hyperventilating at the thought. Sam was most of the time like a little girl in the body of a twenty-year-old; Ayden promised herself she would look after her and protect her... now, look how that had worked out. Now she'd fallen asleep and let Sam get abducted. All of this was her fault.

"She was here with that man... Mathias, but I passed out and when I woke up they were both gone."

"Ya girls shouldn't go wanderin' off!" Grim stated in his thick Glaswegian accent.

"We need to find her!" Ayden said, in her authoritative Captain voice.

In response, Grim muttered something under his breath, Reyes rolled her eyes and Jonah placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, looking at the girl with sorry eyes. Nearby, Alex scratched the back of his head at loss of what to do or say.

"We'll find her, Wise girl, don't worry."

"Uh, w-wait, what about Roth?" Whitman inquired; he'd been very quiet up until then.

"Okay," spoke Reyes, her voice demanded authority. "Let's split up. One of us go with Ayden and meet up with Roth. The rest of us will fan out and look for Sam."

"I'll go with Ayden," Alex stated.

Ayden gave him a small smile, which he immediately returned. Of course, the soldier knew about his crush on her; Sam had told her only a few days after being on the  _Endurance_. Alex was a nice guy and a good friend and had she not been a soldier in the army and in a relationship hiatus, Ayden probably would have returned his affection.

"No, no... let me," Whitman insisted, pushing a dejected Alex back with his left arm.

Ayden eyed him skeptically. Reyes did too as she handed over her gun to the Doctor.

"You know how to use one of these?"

"Um... it's b-been a while. It's all coming back to me," came the reply, as his shaky hand took the offered firearm.

"Get to Roth," said Alex. "We'll find this Mathias guy, Ayden, I swear." Ayden smiled at him again before he and the others left.

Brilliant, now she was stuck with Whitman and his over exaggerating pompous self. Don't get her wrong, she respected him and all he did in the field, but his hunger for fame was something Ayden didn't quite understand. Or trust. With Andrew it was a different story, but... Whitman? Ugh... Being a celebrity was not something that interested Ayden, not even when she'd had her band or her dance crew.

* * *

The Feral Force had decided to settle down for the night as they knew that, even with their high-tech gadgets and weapons, they wouldn't find much throughout the night. If Ayden was there, she could be resting as well, for all they knew... or she could be captured... but most likely resting...

Hopefully.

Elena had laid down beside her brother that night, staying as close to him as she possibly could as it was rather cold for an island. It wasn't exactly surprising a it was barely nearing February, so basically it was still winter. However, the fact that it was a 'tropical' island, well, that only made her skeptical, though she opted for worrying about it the next morning.

However, when she woke up from her much needed rest, it wasn't morning yet, nor was it because she was no longer tired. No matter how exhausted she was, like many other soldiers, she had become a very light sleeper; she woke up at the sound of a twig snapping.

She sat up and groggily glanced around, eyes squinted as her vision was still blurry from sleep. She looked over at her brother and sighed when she saw him still sleeping; he just had to remain a heavy sleeper, didn't he?

She reached for his arm and shook him slightly. "Damian, get up!"

He moaned in his sleep. "Certainly, Lennie. Whatever you like," he mumbled as he rolled over, only to keep sleeping.

Rolling her eyes, Elena sighed as she got up and began to make her way into the woods. She stopped by the trees that separated the jungle from the beach and leaned slightly against it as she squinted her eyes again, peering through the darkened wilderness.

"Hello?" she called out. She stepped forward and walked a little further, though made sure to stay close to the beach. "... Carmi?" she tried, but only got a growl in response.

Suddenly, someone sneaked up behind her and put a hand over her mouth, and dragged her back. Elena panicked, though she relaxed slightly when she saw it was her brother. They looked over and saw that the source of the growl was a wolf. Damian signaled Elena to be quiet as he drew out his silent gun. He slowly brought it up and aimed it at the creature that began to advance toward them. Quickening its pace, it began to run, though, just as it leaped into the air, lunging toward the siblings, Damian pulled the trigger, shooting the beast in the head, killing it instantly.

Damian then glanced down at his sister who looked rather shaken up. "Are you okay?" he asked, both of them unaware of the shadows closing in on them.

Elena nodded, running a hand over her forehead and down her face. "Yeah, just... caught off—"

She never got to finish what she was about to say, and Damian never got to hear it either as they were both knocked out from behind and dragged deeper into the murderous wilderness, away from the campsite occupied by Andrew and the rest of the Feral Force.


	7. Prisoners

Sam felt like she was in a dream. Well, it wasn't really a dream; dreams were meant to make you feel happy or nothing at all. This was more like a nightmare. A horrible nightmare where she'd been kidnapped by some deranged man on an unknown island in the middle of nowhere.

Mathias had obviously planned this out from the moment she'd run into him. Acting all nice and charming, bandaging her injured foot by the campfire, taking interest in her stories about Himiko Nēmisu... it was all a lie. Well, his interest in Himiko probably wasn't. God, how had she been so naive? When Ayden had arrived at their campsite Sam had noticed how jumpy she'd been around Mathias. It was only when the sixteen-year-old had drifted off to sleep that her body finally relaxed. Then not a mere minute later Mathias had pointed a gun at Ayden's sleeping head and threatened to shoot if Sam didn't come with him.

"No! What are you doing?"

"I advise you to stay silent, Samantha, if you want her to live," Mathias threatened. "Now, this is what is going to happen, you're going to keep your mouth shut and come with me."

Sam hesitated, but not for too long; she was being held at gunpoint after all, and her young friend's life was also being threatened. Brows furrowed, she looked up at the disgusting man. "And if I do, you won't hurt Ayden?" she asked.

"I won't harm her."

Sam had reluctantly agreed and let Mathias bound her wrists behind her back, all the time with tears rolling down her eyes. It was only when he'd led her down a small set of stone steps and through the woods to a large gate did Sam realize how wrong she'd been to trust him.

" _You're too trusting... it'll get you killed one day_ ," she had told her, but Sam had been too blind to take her word for it. And now she was mentally cursing herself, guilt-struck as a small group of armed men waited by the large door where Mathias greeted them all before ordering one to set up a large bear trap near the campsite.

"What! You said you wouldn't harm her!" Sam wailed, struggling in his grasp.

"And I'm keeping that promise," he replied coldly. "Set up the trap, then release the wolves."

One of the men disappeared and returned a few minutes later informing them that it was all ready. Somewhere off in the distance, Ayden had appeared to have woken up, as Sam and the others heard the American-Canadian girl calling out for her friend. But before Sam could even try to answer, a large gloved hand clamped down over her mouth and a gun was pushed in between her shoulder blades.

"Don't even think about it, Samantha."

Seconds later the entire forest echoed with the sound of Ayden's scream as she helplessly fell into the trap set out for her. Mathias turned and nodded to his followers. Sam had begged and pleaded, even with the hand over her mouth, all while thrashing out in some desperate attempt to stop the men as they opened the nearby cages where the savage beasts were kept. The last thing Sam had heard was the sound of Ayden's strained pleas and the howls of the wolves before someone smacked her around the back of the head and knocked her out cold.

When she'd finally come around, she was being carried over the shoulders of one of Mathias' savages as they walked through what looked like some kind of rusty shantytown. From there, she'd been led into some ancient Japanese palace that was built high above the shantytown. Navigating through corridors, the thugs had eventually pushed Sam into a small, dark room.

That was where Sam was now, hands no longer bound with two men standing outside, guarding the only exit. Aside from the pain in the back of her head, Sam was uninjured. The men had not mistreated her in any way and they'd even gone so far as to bring her a bottle of water and a can of cold soup. She presumed the Solarii must live off whatever food washed up with the various wrecks, as well as the animals that wandered the island.

The Solarii. Ugh.

The Solarii Brotherhood was the group Mathias was clearly the leader of. From what little Sam could gather, the Solarii was a violent cult of mercenaries and shipwreck survivors, that had established its own society full of insane jackasses who worshiped Himiko Nēmisu.

Of course, Sam still had no idea what they even planned to do with her, or why Mathias had taken her in the first place and not Ayden as well. She couldn't do much really, aside from silently cry to herself about Ayden's unknown fate and listen to the conversations her guards had with each other outside her door. More than often they appeared to be playing games of cards or chess to pass the time whilst talking about some fire ritual that Sam didn't like the sound of.

"Hey, you alright there?"

Sam yelped, startled; she hadn't known there were any other prisoners with her in the dark room.

"Gee, warn a girl," she muttered, trying to calm her pounding heart. She looked back, squinting her eyes slightly and found herself staring back into a pair of gray eyes. She then glanced away, and behind him and found out there were more people there. "Are you always this silent? God, you could give someone a heart attack."

The man chuckled slightly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry. I just came around and saw you."

"You were knocked out too?"

"Uh-huh. Though by the looks of it, we were knocked out harder... or I was... or they drugged us..."

"You're really an awkward-rendering person, you know that?"

"So I've been told."

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Oh, right! I forgot to introduce myself, sorry. I'm Andrew Carson."

Sam blinked in surprise at the familiarity in the name, then introduced herself. "Sam Nishimura." She paused. "And Carson? That sounds familiar," she mumbled.

He looked at her with his pretty eyes and gave her a smile that was rather charming, despite the dirt and bit of dry blood on his face. "Well, I wouldn't be surprised if you knew about me," he said with a slightly bragging edge in his tone. "I'm an industrial genius, inventor, and businessman. Also a billionaire."

But she shook her head, brows furrowing slightly as she tried to ignore the grunting of the men behind Andrew while trying to remember where she had heard the name before. "No, that's not it."

"What?! How could you have not heard of—"

"Carson, shut up. No one care's about you being a millionaire."

"Billionaire, my good sir. And what do you mean no one cares?! Den-Den cares!"

Sigh. "There's a difference between caring and tolerating, Carson."

"And you would know that, _Annie_?!"

Another sigh. "How did Ayden even deal with you?"

Sam's eyes widened in realization. "Feral Force!"

All the men in the room with her stopped arguing and turned to look at her in surprise. How did she know about them?

"Aye, that's us, lass," said a young soldier with a Scottish accent.

Sam grinned. "You're Scottish guy!"

He blinked, taken aback by her forwardness, but also at the nickname. Only one person called him that—

"You know Ayden?" Andrew asked. Sam nodded. "How?"

"Well..."

* * *

Deeper into the woods, closer to the heart of the island, Ayden found herself stuck with Whitman who clearly feigned his concern at her injured foot as she hobbled back over to the makeshift campsite, before leaving to scout out ahead. Ayden was alone once more with nothing but her thoughts and the crackling of the fire.

As she sat down, Ayden noticed a leather-bound journal to her right that it looked an awful lot like the one Sam carried around. Upon further inspection, it was revealed to be the Japanese girl's, as she had written her name upon the top of the inside page. Trust Sam to leave her belongings lying around... unless she hadn't actually planned to leave this behind? Mathias could have taken her away before she had a chance to do anything.

Ayden shuddered.  _Don't think about that right now, Alex and the others are going to rescue her and then everything would be fine and dandy._

Turning her attention back to the journal, Ayden contemplated whether Sam would actually mind her reading it. It wasn't like they shared any secrets... right? Oh, wait. That would be unless you don't count the fact that Ayden never told her she was a  _super_ soldier.

Skimming through the first few pages, there was a lot of information about the first few days spent on the  _Endurance_ , including Sam's frustration at Whitman's diva tendencies and how excited she was to find out more about her ancestry. But Ayden also discovered that Sam had had a sort of premonition before they'd sailed into the Dragon's Triangle.

_'Ayden's having a crisis of confidence, so for her sake, I'll keep up a happy face. But something about this expedition has been making me nervous, I have butterflies in my stomach. As we sail closer to the Dragon's Triangle, I'm starting to feel nauseous. And this isn't the excited kind nerves...'_

Had Sam put on a facade all for her well-being? Ayden suddenly felt very guilty for what had happened to them both.

_'What the hell is wrong with me? This trip is going to be awesome. I just need to shake off this feeling... Maybe I can convince Ayden to take a break and have a drink with me? Of course, it has to be non-alcoholic this time— she's still underage.'_

The young soldier's lips twitched up slightly, almost smiling, as she thought back to that slightly happier time when Sam had dragged her away one night on the ship, and forced her to do tequila shots along with her and Alex. Only two of them, however, had gotten very drunk and had ended up with Alex puking over the side of the _Endurance_ as Ayden watched on, with Sam laughing her guts out beside her. Ayden chuckled to herself before she continued on to the next entry.

_'Ayden doesn't know it, but I've been shooting footage of her too. I really want to make sure she gets the credit she deserves, even if she probably won't be with us when this whole thing ends... And besides, she looks great on film. She's freakin', naturally hot for a sixteen-year-old and I don't think she even realizes it! The audience will love her, but not just for her looks. She's incredibly intelligent, more so than that jerk Whitman— a sixteen-year-old in the army!'_

Ayden finally smiled slightly at the praise, though she couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy at the thought of the word 'hot' being used to describe her, especially if it was not temperature-wise. Surely she didn't mean in the way Ayden thought she did... right? That one uncomfortable time with the Private outside of Andrews office was sufficiently nightmarish enough. An entry a few pages later answered her question.

_'I know it's kind of lame, but I really wish Ayden would stay with us after this expedition. I have a big family, but I've never had a sister. Ayden's the sister I've never had and it would just be sad when the time to say goodbye comes. I wish it wouldn't have to... but she does have her obligations— it's bad enough we're keeping her from them.'_

Ayden couldn't quite get her head around it all as guilt began to strike at her. She never knew she had quite an effect on people. Was it new? Had she always had that... gift? Was it even a gift?  _Sigh_. For her to read all these journal entries about Sam describing the way she felt after having met Ayden...

 _Ugh, no. Stop it, Ayden. Now is not the time to be filled with guilt_. Sam was missing and she needed to regroup with Roth. Because Roth would know what to do, and he'd be able to get them all out of this mess.

"Ayden! Over here! I found something!"

Whitman's voice in the distance reminded Ayden that he was waiting for her. She stood up and found that her foot didn't really hurt that much; it could have been a lot worse.

After encountering a few more wolves, which Whitman failed to warn her about, she made her way towards him, pushing her guilt to the back of her mind.

"Gee, thanks for the warning," she muttered sarcastically under her breath.

It turned out that the big gate Whitman was standing by was blocking their path and after strengthening her pry ax up a bit, both she and Whitman managed to work together to open it. They managed to make light conversation about the island and relics they encountered. Whitman suspected that the female figure that kept appearing was Himiko Nēmisu, leading to Ayden thinking he was channeling Sam. His suspicions were soon confirmed when they came to a small clearing with a seated statue; lit red candles surrounding its base.

"Incredible! It is Himiko!" Whitman boomed excitedly.

"But look... the bowl, the candles," Ayden stated, hovering her palm over the heat. "Why is she still being worshiped?"

"This island, it must have once been part of Yamatai! You were right Ayden!"

Ayden scoffed, clearly offended by his previous lack of credence in her. "Of course I was— wait...." she trailed off, brows furrowing for a moment before raising along with her widening eyes as she finally grasped what Whitman was saying. "The lost kingdom!" she gasped in surprise.

"It's like finding Atlantis! Oh, just think of the money we'll make..."

Ayden rolled her eyes. _Trust Whitman to only be concerned with the fame and wealth aspect, and not the crazy island lunatics that we're running around._

"But this is real, Dr. Whitman; we're not standing on a myth."

"No, we're standing on a gold mine!"

And, again, Ayden rolled her eyes.

A twig snapped nearby and the pair turned round to see a strange man with a beard behind them. Whitman pulled out the gun given to him by Reyes and aimed it caught a glimpse of the pistol harnessed to his left thigh and instantly didn't trust him. The last strange man she'd encountered on this island had taken Sam, and she been damned if she didn't trust her instinct this time.

"Come quickly, your friends are hurt," the man said in a monotone voice.

"Yeah, probably by them!" Ayden warned.

"Get back!" Whitman ordered, flinging the pistol clumsily in his hands.

"They can't be trusted!" she hissed at him.

Suddenly another appeared on a platform in the trees above them. This man was armed with a bow and had it fixed on them. Whitman's face was filled with worry and uncertainty, unlike Ayden who knew that if it was her that had the gun, she wouldn't have hesitated to shoot.

"You still have a gun!" she reassured, but Whitman ignored her.

"I don't want any trouble. We'll come—"

Ayden gave him a disbelieving look. "What?! No!"

"But afterward, I insist you take us to whoever's in charge!"

"What are you doing?" she hissed at him.

"Be quiet," he snapped.

"No!"

"I'm handling this!" he insisted.

Ayden's pleas fell on deaf ears as Whitman held up his arms in surrender before placing his gun on the ground.

But she refused to give up so easily.

"No!"

She quickly drew her bow and was just aiming for the man's head before she was knocked to the floor from behind. In an instant, she was kicking and flailing her arms around to try to knock off her attacker, while Whitman pleaded with the men not to harm her. Eventually, Ayden was subdued and found her wrists being bound behind her back.

"Just... just go along with them, Ayden," said Whitman. She screamed in pain when her captor tugged a bit too hard on her slightly injured arm. "Do... do whatever they say."

Her attacker picked her bow off the ground and slung it over his shoulder. She heard him mutter something in Russian to one of his compatriots, though she couldn't understand it well as she still wasn't fluent enough in it. And then he yanked at her arm, forcefully dragging her away from Whitman. She cringed slightly as his scent filled her nose; the man stank of filth and something else that Ayden didn't want to guess at as he leered at her tank top covered chest.

He took Ayden to another clearing in the forest, where they were keeping three workmen from the  _Endurance_  prisoner, and two others who were on the ground unconscious; Ayden recognized one of them as Stewart, who'd been close friends with Roth, though she felt her stomach twist when she caught sight of two unconscious figures that seemed oddly familiar to her. However, she could not get a good look at them as they both had their backs to them; the least she could figure was that one was female, and the other was male, though they were both from the army. That tightened the knot in Ayden's stomach.

She began to struggle again, trying to get out of his grip, though it was no use; the substance Hamid had injected her with was still flowing through her system.

"Who are you people?" she demanded. "What do you want with us?"

"Silence!"

As she was pulled along, Stewart called out, "Ayden!" as he tried to run over to her, only to be knocked to the ground by one of the thugs.

Before she could react or say anything though, her captor spoke up in English to his accomplices. "If they give you any trouble, kill them!"

She huffed. "No! Don't hurt them... please!" she pleaded.

Her captor turned back to her and shoved her slightly against a tree trunk. "I said, silence, girl!" he glowered, his voice thickened with his Russian accent.

She was terrified; the man was intimidating and stood a good foot or so above her height. Ayden was even more horrified as he trailed his rough sweaty hand up her arm and shoulder, pausing lightly to caress her collarbone, sneering at her in his native tongue. In a futile attempt, she tried to move past him but failed as he easily intercepted with his arm, and moved in closer to her body. She wanted to cry as she remembered how she had nearly been raped back in Mongolia.

"Let go of her! Let go of her!"

Ayden wasn't entirely aware how they managed it, but Stewart along with the other two broke free and began running away. The Russian's attention was quickly focused on them.

"Ayden, run!"

Everything happened so fast, yet so slow, then the next thing she knew, her companion was telling her to run, right before being shot in the head by her captor.

Her eyes widened as she watched his body fall limply to the ground. "Oh, no! No!"

Her scream made the two unconscious figures wake up with a start. They both groggily turned around to look at the source of the familiar scream, though they were unable to see much as the Russian leader began shouting commands and a few of his compatriots moved in front of them, blocking their view.

"Round them up! Round them up!" her captor yelled, his lackeys running on his command. He then turned to Ayden and gave her a swift, powerful backhanded slap across her face. "Don't you fuckin' move," he warned, pointing his gun at her for a moment, before turning back to his men and walking away, leaving her on the ground. "Kill them all!"

Shit, she was in big trouble.

If she stayed where she was, Ayden had no doubt that the Russian would return and do god knows what with her, especially since she had no one to help her this time as Charles had helped her with William. If the way the bastard felt her up was anything to go by, she definitely didn't want to remain here. Ayden needed to escape and find Roth, and the only way she could do that is if she sneaked past the guards. Her hands were still tied, so if she was caught, it'd be game over.

"Hey, bring up the prisoner!" one of the men shouted.

 _Don't make a sound_ , she thought to herself.

Quietly, she crouched down behind a nearby wall and moved up alongside it, hoping the guard on the other side wouldn't spot her with his flashlight. Luckily, he began walking down the path to where she had been stood by the tree, leaving her with a chance to move out of cover and further up the hill.

Strangely enough, Ayden was reminded of the time on board the  _Endurance_  when Alex had suggested she play some video games with him, much to her delight. One game, in particular, stood out for her right now. What was it called again? Assassin's Deed— Creed? Well whatever its name was, Ayden did remember that it was all about stealth and that the character on screen often needed to stay out of sight and sneak past people. This was something she needed to replicate right now as she narrowly avoided an oncoming guard by slipping into the remains of a ruined building.

"Hey, keep an eye out! The girl's missing!"

Or she could just run for it and hope to not be shot at.

 _Sigh_. Well, it really was only a matter of time before they realized anyway. And if Ayden didn't move soon they'd no doubt find her in there; she just needed to keep moving. Ayden carefully ran up a set of stone steps and snuck in between the busted wooden door to a more sheltered hut. She must have only been in there for a few seconds when she heard the familiar voice of the Russian nearby.  _Shit_.

He walked right past the gap she slipped through and Ayden held her breath.

"No one escapes," he stated before she heard the click of a gun. He'd found her. "Out! Get out of there, stop wasting my time!"

Ayden had no choice to comply. The second she stepped out from the shelter, his hands were on her, gripping into the skin on her neck.

"I always find them," he boasted before his hand began to slide down Ayden's left side. He chuckled lowly and began to murmur in Russian once again. " _Вы хорошо выглядит, не так ли? Вы напоминаете мне о моей сестре_."  **(You are good looking, aren't you? You remind me of my sister.)**

He was just about to grab her hip when Ayden fought back by kneeing him in the crotch. The sleazy man doubled over in pain and Ayden saw a window of opportunity to get away. Unfortunately, the Russian caught her arm as he quickly regained his composure, and flung her back. This time, he pushed himself full flush against Ayden, pinning her shoulders to the side and began to nuzzle her neck with the tip of his nose.

" _Она также была сука_."  **(She was also a bitch.)**

The young weakened soldier shuddered as she felt his breath on her ear.

_Wait! That's it!_

Huh, so much for taming the new animalistic side Hamid had given her.

Without warning, Ayden sunk her teeth into his ear and pulled on it hard, nearly ripping it off. The Russian hissed in anger and he jolted his body away from her. In response, Ayden frantically ran forward and collided against him to knock him off his feet.

The gun that he had been wielding flew in the air and landed a few feet away from them both. Miraculously, Ayden somehow managed to loosen the bonds on her wrists as she made her way to the firearm. She grabbed it and turned around ready to fire, but much like before with the wolf, he was already upon her, trying to pull it from her grasp. They wrestled with it furiously, until Ayden managed to overpower his strength to the barrel of the gun towards the Russian's head. Without a second thought, she pulled the trigger.

With a loud bang, the bullet tore through the man's skull and exploded out with blood and bits of brain everywhere. At the same time, his body was flung back off of Ayden with the sheer force and landed with a thud. Ayden remained frozen to the spot, covered in his blood with the gun clutched tightly in her hands as the Russian drew his last breaths. A few seconds later, the realization began to sink in that she had just killed someone. It wasn't new to her, but every time she took a life, she felt remorse a while later. This time, no matter how bad the man had been, she felt it instantly as she realized she'd taken a life, and it had been so incredibly easy.

Killing had become an easy thing for her to do.

Her stomach lurched and she quickly turned to the side as her stomach emptied its contents, most of it being blood, which only shook her up more. Shaking, Ayden couldn't help but begin to cry at what she'd done, though also at what could have happened had she not pulled the trigger.

"Oh, God," she sobbed as she risked another look at the corpse she'd created.

Ayden eventually took a moment to compose herself once the tears had stopped. She needed to keep remembering that the Russian man was evil. He'd ordered his men to kill, and he would have very nearly killed her had she not fought back. Ayden had to remind herself that it also wouldn't be the only time on this island that she'd need to take a life, nor outside of it.

She was alone at the moment, but the rest of the men were still looking for her, and she wasn't out of danger yet. Some kind of Mountain Temple loomed ahead and judging by the noise and flashing of torchlight the guards were too. Ayden needed to pull herself together. She was going to make it to Roth, and she'd be damned if she'd let anyone stand in her way.

With a renewed purpose, Ayden retrieved her bow and pistol before heading in the direction of more danger.

* * *

Back in the room where Andrew and the Feral Force were locked up with Sam, they all sat quietly, a few looking around for a way out, though all while listening with the others as Sam told them how she met their Captain.

"Well, I was on an expedition aboard this ship  _Endurance_. Our goal was to search and find the lost kingdom of Yamatai. We found Ayden by mere chance when we had to take a pit stop to refuel the ship and whatnot. We found her half-dead by the docks on the outskirts of Mongolia. We took her in with us and after she woke up, and we got to know each other a bit more; then she volunteered to help us with our search."

"And you said _yes_?!"

She shrugged slightly and gave them all a sheepish look. "Well, we were kind of hesitant at first, especially when she told us about being in the army; we didn't want to keep her from her duties, but then she went all out about how it was the least she could do for 'saving' her life, and then she burst with ideas for the expedition, and that caught Roth's eye, and then—"

"Who the heck is Roth?"

"Andrew!"

"Sorry, carry on."

"And, well... she had valuable reasons. Every time we asked her if she was sure about wanting to come with us— I mean, we always let her know how we could stop anywhere to make a call directly to your military base.... if that were even possible, but she always had the same excuse."

"Which was?"

Sam sighed. "I already told you. She'd always tell us that she owed us for 'saving' her life. And then she would go all about how her skills would be very helpful to us, and Roth and Grim agreed with her because she'd say how more tactical skills would make the expedition shorter, and it would be a win-win, because we would get what we want quicker, and she would be able to get back to you guys sooner."

"So, she didn't forget about us," said another one of the soldiers.

Sam shook her head with a small smile. "Whenever we got her to talk about herself, she would always talk about you all. You're like a family to her."

The soldier smiled. "Well, she's like our baby sister... well, besides Elena. She's the real baby."

"Elena... Ayden told me about her," said Sam. "Isn't she with you— I mean— I assume... well, she's part of the unit, right?"

Another soldier— an Asian one— nodded. "Her brother too. They were both with us when we landed and settled for the night, but they disappeared. I think they were taken too. But, they're not here, so they must've been taken somewhere else."

"Lass," said the Scottish soldier. "When was the last time you saw our Captain? Is she alright?"

Sam's eyes widened as she remembered. She brought a hand to her mouth as she fought back tears. "I don't know," she shook her head. "I ran into that Mathias guy, and Ayden joined us later on." She groaned. "God, I'm so stupid!"

"What? Why? What did you do? What happened? What did you do? Did I already ask that? Where—"

"Shut up, Carson!" the Feral Force yelled in unison.

The guards outside banged on the door. " _Hey! Quiet in there!_ "

Sam sighed. "I was too naive," she said.

"Let me guess," said Andrew, his usual slightly arrogant tone softening. "She told you that trust can get you killed, and you still trusted what's-his-name guy."

Sam tilted her head to the side as she regarded him with surprised and curious eyes. "Well, sort of... yeah. She didn't say it exactly in those words, but close. How did you know?"

He chuckled softly as his eyes darkened in a way none of the soldiers from the Feral Force had ever seen. "Let's just say I witnessed her say that to someone rather close to me." He sighed. "And as usual..."

"She was right," Sam finished.

Andrew nodded solemnly as his eyes became distant. Ayden had indeed said trust could get one killed before; she had told so to Marinescu before the explosion, which caused his death. He was too trusting on his work, and how the formula would work. At the time, Ayden knew what his goal was, and, though she did not know the specifics, even less understood the formula and whatnot, she had clearly said how she did not trust the outcome.

* * *

_"I don't know a thing about chemistry, or whatever you're using to make this stuff— heck! I'm a prodigy, and I suck in simple Algebra! But, honestly, I don't think that mix you're planning on doing is right."_

_"Carmen, my work has been a success for far more decades than you have lived. I trust my work, and I trust this will work just fine."_

_"It might work fine if you at least did a prototype beforehand, Marinescu! But you're doing it right out on the point."_

_"I have faith in this, Carmen, so trust me. It will work just fine."_

_She groaned, then shook her head while muttering, "You're too trusting... it'll get you killed one day." She then sighed. "Look, I'm not saying I don't trust you, because I do. But trust, whether it's in a person or thing, it has to be earned. I'm sorry to say this, but I don't trust this experiment. It might turn out completely amazing, but not at the time you're doing it, nor the way you're doing it."_

_"Carmen—"_

_"At least consider doing some more tests— drafts before you put it to the point."_

* * *

He never even got to answer her because, in the next second, just as Ayden had predicted, the experiment took a wrong turn and exploded. Ever since, Andrew never doubted her judgment. Sure, she was younger than himself and he should rely on his own experience rather than the judgment of a sixteen-year-old, but Marinescu, a middle-aged man with thrice the experience than both of them together, had overlooked her advice and look what happened. His experiment failed... well, not really— they did get a super soldier out of it after all, but it was literally accidental, and Marinescu died shortly, never getting to see the beautiful outcome.

"Mathias had his men put a bear trap for her," Sam said quietly.

"What?!"

She nodded. "And he sent wolves too." She let out a shaky breath as she wrapped her arms around waist, hugging herself. "I heard her screaming," she chocked out. "I don't know if she's... if she's—"

"She'll be fine."

Andrew glared. "And how would you know, Turner?"

He sighed. "Andrew, you've known her longer than any of us; you should know by now that a bear trap and a pack of wolves won't stop her."

The Asian soldier nodded. "Anthony's right. Remember when she came to save our asses?"

The other soldiers nodded, and the dark-skinned one spoke up. "Our gal crashed that last chopper and survived that with a wild hunger for ice cream."

Anthony grinned half-heartedly, nodding in agreement. "She's a survivor. So are Shorty and Damian. They'll be fine. We just gotta focus on finding a way out of here, so we can find them then, and leave."

Sam was about to speak when one of the guards outside spoke up, grabbing her attention, along with thus of Andrew and the Feral Force.

" _Did you hear, brother?_ "

" _About what?_ "

" _About one of the survivors from one of the latest wrecks!_ "

Survivors from one of the latest wrecks? Surely they must be talking about from the  _Endurance_? Sam hoped they were. But wait! They did say 'one of' and they did pluralize wreck... was it possible that there was already another wreck? Stupid, of course, it was possible— the Feral Force was here!

"They must be talking about one from your ship," Andrew muttered. "We just recently got here. Plus, I doubt it would be Elena or Damian. When Ayden isn't around, those two are almost as inseparable as Ayden and Elena."

Sam let out a shaky breath. "There's something wrong with this island," she said before they all turned their attention back to the guards.

" _What about them?_ "

" _Are you shittin' me? You haven't heard?_ "

" _No, I've been guarding this door ever since Mathias brought the girl here. Just fuckin' tell me already._ "

" _Vlad is dead._ "

" _Holy shit, are you kiddin' me?_ " Pause. " _Man, the others are not gonna be happy_."

Sam couldn't really picture any of the  _Endurance_  crew or officers killing anyone. But then again, she supposed Roth, Grim or Reyes all could do the deed. What with Roth being an ex-marine, Reyes an ex-cop and Grim being... well Grim.

"Is it Ayden? Is it?" Andrew wondered in a whisper. "It's gotta be Ayden. Please tell me it's Ayden. Plea—"

"Andrew!" they all whisper-yelled in unison.

"Sorry!"

" _But wait, brother, there's more. The survivor? It's a fuckin' girl no older than sixteen. And not only did she kill Vlad, she took out our entire team he'd had up there with him_."

"... it's Ayden."

* * *

Back near the clearing, were to the two Shostakovitch siblings; they were hiding from the Russian mobsters, or whatever they were— they only knew they were Russian because they were speaking in their mother tongue.

"Damian," Elena whispered. "I think that was Ayden."

"The girl that ran off?" Elena nodded. "But did you hear the sho—"

"Don't. If she's survived up till now, then she's still alive," she said.

Damian looked at her for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "We're gonna find her." He peaked out from the shadows at the rushing Russians. "You got your stuff back?"

"Yeah," she whispered.

"Alright, let's go."

"No! Not yet. They'll catch us. We may have better weapons and trained with a super soldier, but we're outnumbered. We gotta wait until they've cleared out. My scouter's still functional, so we'll find her through it."

"Alright," Damian replied. "Let's go a little deeper, at least, so they don't see us."

* * *

When Ayden left the harrowing scene, she felt a bit relieved as she not only had her bow back but she also now had the semi-auto pistol she had used on the man who'd tried to force himself on her. However, she wasn't as lucky as she seemed to be; she had no arrows and the bad guy had left her with no ammunition. So for now, she was still effectively unarmed and had to rely on her stealth.

As she walked further through the darkness lit by fire flaming around, she noticed there were still many bad guys down in the low area in front of a burning building, so, to avoid that area, she, instead, followed a path up a hill on the left. She crossed a wooden bridge and continued up the steps to the left, where she then moved under the decorative arches at the top of the steps. As soon as she reached the top, she glanced around, becoming more cautious by the second after she noticed a dead body lying limply on the ground. Her eyes lit up a bit when she noticed an ammunition clip beside the unfortunate victim. She slowly stepped forward, beginning to approach it when, suddenly, an arrow flew in, shooting through her left arm, emitting a pained gasp from her.

She quickly ducked to the ground and took cover behind some crates nearby, only peaking through the small space in between them to see her attacker. There were two of them, both archers. She hadn't been as stealthy as she thought, so obviously, they had spotted her. Gripping her arm in pain, she glanced over at the ammunition clip; it wasn't so far away, but, at the moment, it felt as though it was.

She waited for a few moments until the shots temporarily ceased. She took the opportunity and quickly stretched her uninjured arm and grabbed the ammo clip, shoving it into her pistol. Once her gun was loaded, Ayden peered through the crates and saw one of the archers on the left hunkers, hiding down behind one of the crates. She chose to ignore him for the moment, and focused on the one on the right who moved around to flank her. She quickly aimed her pistol just above the top of the crate to her right, and when he peeked out, she shot him before turning to shoot the other guy who had chosen that moment to emerge from behind his crate.

Once she'd taken care of both of them, Ayden glanced around and sighed when she noticed she no longer needed to crouch behind cover as there were no more enemies around. She went on forward, trying hard to ignore the burning sensation in her throat as the smell of blood filtered the air, and looted the bodies of the two men she had just killed to get bullets or arrows, both if possible. After she did so, she went on but stopped for a quick moment when she noticed a box of pistol ammo near one of the wooden crates.

"Oh, Jesus, thank you," she muttered before continuing on her way.

She thought of going back down the hill, but the way back there was now blocked by flaming debris.

She huffed, running a hand across her face. "Great! Just... great..."

She turned back toward the only building that wasn't in flames, and sighed; she would have to go through it. Putting her pain to the far back of her mind, Ayden climbed up the steps to the building at the end of the open area and used her pry ax to force open the ornate wooden door. When she got it open and stepped inside, more bad guys arrived and attempted to burn the building with her inside. Crossing the room, she found a boarded-up opening in front of which she crouched and quickly kicked to bust open. She did so without hesitation as she knew if she waited for even a second, she would succumb to the heat and smoke, never mind her being a super soldier.

Once outside again, she followed the balcony she landed on, around to the right, and jumped across another gap, then continued around the side of the building. On the path ahead she found another box of ammo and a little farther along, a food cache and some arrows. She grabbed them, then continued along the path. However, once she neared the end of the path, she quickly went into a stealthy crouch behind a wooden wagon, when she noticed a flashlight flashing up ahead. She knew if she used the pistol, she would only attract more attention as the firearm was rather loud. So, instead, she brought out her bow and grabbed an arrow from her quiver, and peered out just enough to target the man on the ledge ahead.

She didn't like the idea of killing him, never mind him being a bad guy, but she was in one of those "kill or be killed" situations. That was the only way she was going to survive in that island. That was the only way she was going to survive anywhere.

She was a soldier, after all.

Aiming for his head, she pulled on the arrow, then released it. If this had been a video game, she would've been rather proud of herself as it would have been the best virtual silent kill performed with a bow. However, this was real life, and she couldn't help but be disgusted with herself. She would see these men as monsters for killing for no reason, but she was no better. Even if it was to survive, she was killing all the same. She was just as bad as they were.

Sighing, she straightened from her crouch and rushed forward toward the corpse and looted it, to see if she found any extra ammunition or anything useful. When she found nothing she needed, she scrambled up the wooden wall onto the ledge where the bad guy was and followed the path to the right. When she came to the edge, she jumped across a gap and quickly grabbed onto the wooden structure ahead. She climbed around to the right and then up to the level above. Once she was on her feet, she walked forward, carefully though, since there were two enemy archers up there.

Crouching behind a crate, she brought out her bow once more and take out one of the men with a silent headshot. The other one noticed when his comrade fell, but Ayden acted far more quickly then he did and shot him before he could do anything about it. A ladder, then, suddenly dropped from the cliff above, and a third enemy soldier started to climb his way down. However, before he could make it all the way down, Ayden quickly shot him as he descended, and he fell to his death. Straightening from her crouch, she made her way to the bodies and checked to see if they were still alive as she had remembered in some of her previous missions with her dearest Feral Force, there had been cases where they had made some deadly shots, and yet their target survived and they had to kill them more closely.

Let out a small, slightly relieved breath when she found no pulse in either of them, Ayden moved for the ladder and began to climb it. As she climbed her way up, Ayden was startled by the sudden sound of static, though she was quickly overcome with relief when she heard Roth's voice emitting from her two-way radio.

" _Ayden, are you there?_ "

"Yes!"

" _I can see smoke coming from the old ruins— are you okay?_ "

She swallowed hard. "Oh, God... Roth, I'm in trouble." A shot echoed through the night. "They're killing people."

" _What? Who?_ "

"Men... I don't know why... they might be mercenaries, but... I don't know. I've never met any before, so I wouldn't really know." Her breathing hitched slightly. "I had to kill some of them. I had no choice..."

He sighed. He knew she was a soldier, but it had been clear since they'd first met that she didn't like having to kill, even if it was just to survive; she was far too empathetic. " _That can't have been easy._ "

She let out a shaky breath as she neared the top of the cliff. "It's scary just how easy it's become." She heaved herself up the stone ledge and sighed in exhaustion. "You've got to warn the others, Roth."

" _Don't worry about them right now. You just do whatever it takes to get to me, Ayden._ "

She sighed. "I'll try."

 _Fate must really hate me_ , was, however, the next and last thing she was able to think as she received a hard jab in the back of her head before she even got the chance to stand on her feet.

'Game over' finally came.

* * *

The Shostakovitch siblings hadn't managed to get as far as they'd hoped, either, as they were soon knocked out again and taken captive.

As the spots of black began to fade from Elena's vision, she became acutely aware of the memory where she was being slammed into a tree by one of the ugly enemy soldiers. No, this wasn't an old memory, it was a recent one— as in 'a few hours ago' recent.

She groaned as she woke, finding an annoying throbbing persisting at her head as if someone was relentlessly knocking on it. She hoped that it went away, but she was beginning to imagine the exaggerated, cartoon version of a lump on a character's head.

"Elena?" she heard someone whisper as she rose from the forced slumber. She groaned again, an involuntary response to her system trying to force itself to slip out of unconsciousness. Where the hell was she?

"Knock... knocked me out cold," she mumbled, unaware of what she was saying as she rubbed her head in a desperate attempt to soothe her migraine. "Bastard knocked me out cold."

Slowly, she opened her eyes and took in the scenery around her. The world was blurry for a moment or two, but she blinked a few times and the image sharpened. She had no desire to push herself off the floor, but nevertheless, her eyes wandered around the box she was placed in.

Box? That's when it hit her: she _was_ in a box, or a form of it, at least. A cell. She was in a cell— a cage! Locked up like an animal.

"What the hell?" she growled, still stationary from her lain position on the floor on her back.

From beside her, she heard the same voice whisper another sentence to her. "Are you okay? Come on, just say you're okay."

She turned her head, feeling the sharp pressure of pain. The world turned for a split second, but when it stabilized, she saw Damian on the other side of the cell, ducking his head to see her more clearly through the darkened room. Their eyes met, and he studied her complexion with concern.

She frowned. "Damian?"  _Who the hell would lock us up in a cage, though? Oh— right... never mind_. She groaned, having the thought remind her of how she came into the cell in the first place. "Where are we?"

"In a cell."

She rolled her eyes. "The bars around pretty much gave that away, you idiot," she grunted. She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering slightly. As her arms slid up her biceps, however, she started to freak out when she noticed them bandaged. "What the—"

"They've been injecting us for as long as they've held us here... I don't know how long that was."

"They?" Elena asked, brows furrowing in confusion. "Injecting— who's doing this to us."

Damian shook his head. "I don't know."

The cell suddenly opened and another body was thrown in. It was bigger than Elena's, though still smaller than Damian's, and, clearly, it was female as the newcomer had hair that fell all the way down to her slim, yet slightly curvy waist.

The figure groaned and grunted as she struggled to push herself up; her wrists were bound to her neck by a thick rope, her ankles bound just as tight. The man who threw her into the cell laughed.

"Any last requests,  _сука_?"  **(bitch)**

"Yeah, loosen the knots and let me go," the siblings heard her choke out. In spite of himself, Damian chuckled slightly at the woman in disbelief, though the tiny smile on his face instantly evaporated the second his eyes locked with hers, and his body froze. Her eyes widened as they stared at his frozen form, then at the smaller one behind him.

"Ayden!" Elena squealed, scrambling around her brother and over to her best friend.


	8. Cellmates

Ayden sat frozen, eyes wide and unblinking, emitting no other reaction until Damian sat in front of her, Elena at her side, having pulled the bound girl into a tight, yet gentle hug.

"Ayden! You're here! You're alive! You're—" Elena's eyes widened in terror when she took in the sixteen-year-old's appearance. "Covered in blood... what happened to you?"

But Ayden remained unresponsive, eyes locked on the spot they had previously been sitting at. Frowning slightly, Elena waved her hand in front of Ayden's face, trying to snap her out of whatever empty reverie she seemed to be stuck in, calling out her name and even shaking her slightly.

Finally, after about a minute or two, Ayden blinked her way back into reality. She frowned slightly in confusion, uncertain of why she had even been staring at an empty spot on the floor before her head snapped up at the sound of her name being called out by two familiar voices. She blinked again, uncertain if what she was seeing was real or just a hallucination.

"Elena?" she croaked. " _Damian_?"

Damian sighed in relief while his sister cracked a smile.

"Carmi?"

Ayden groaned. "... don't... call me that," she grunted, flopping her back onto the cold, stone floor.

Elena's small smile turned into a grin, though, as she opened her mouth to speak, she was cut off by the guard who threw Ayden in.

"Here." He threw in a small bag. "You are permitted to have your toys, but nothing else."

Ayden gave him a cold look. "And you expect me to do what with them? My hands and legs are still tied up, you jackass."

"I don't expect you to do anything, that's why I kept you bound. Your possessions have been looked over, so you have nothing that can help you escape."

She gave him a humorless smile. "Oh, trust me when I say I'll get out of here with my own bare hands."

The guard let out a mocking, throaty laugh. "You can keep dreaming!" And with that, he turned, about to leave, though he stopped when he reached the door. "Oh, and don't think about putting that down in your petty journalist notes." Then he was gone.

Ayden groaned. "I don't know how you knew about the journalist part, but it wasn't petty!" she called after him defensively, though whether he heard or not, she could not tell as he was already gone.

She sighed. How did they know all these things about her? Yes, she was a journalist at one point, when she was fourteen, though... she wasn't really. She had temporarily taken on the job, mainly because of the money, but it was also because she needed the work she got out of it for her Research Methods class, in which she had decided to do an individual project for extra credits.

However, she never put it on her file when she enrolled to become a soldier... or did she? She couldn't remember it well as it had been a long time ago, but how could they know? She would understand them knowing about her being Captain of an entire American military unit, but all those small details she never mentioned or wrote down? At this point she believed she'd be rather surprised if they actually got her age wrong and thought she was nineteen; Doolittle and the board had made sure that stayed out of any file for as long as she was in service.

"You guys came here with the team?"

"Yeah, but they're all at the beach... well, that was where we left them."

"And when was that?"

"Erm... hours ago? I don't know, those bastards took our things."

"Well, if you guys have been gone for long, then they've probably already set out to look for you, and have most likely been captured."

"How do you know that?"

"Well, it's not like it hasn't happened to, like, hundreds of people that have been stranded here," Ayden replied sarcastically.

"How—"

"Don't ask."

After almost ten minutes of struggling alone to free herself from the ropes as she didn't want her teammates' help, Ayden brought one of the ropes to her nose and sniffed it closely, cringing at the scent it emitted.

"Gah! I should've known they were somehow related to the whole thing..." she grumbled under her breath, throwing the rope as far away from herself as she could. "How'd they find me?"

"How did  _who_  find you?" Elena blurted out, watching her friend jump onto her feet and begin to examine the contours of the cell.

"You know what happened to me before I ended up here." It wasn't a question. "If you hadn't, you wouldn't have found out I was here. These people... I don't think all of them, but some of them are linked to the experiment— to Clayton."

She looked back at Damian when she said the name. He frowned, getting up onto his feet as well. "How can you know?"

"They did... things to me and gave me a weakness. A sedative that's strong enough knock me out and keep me vulnerable for a long period of time. It's still in my system, even after three weeks." She exhaled. "The ropes they had on me just now? They sprayed 'em with it."

An individual applause emitted from the door, causing the trio to snap their heads its way, Elena slowly rising as well to stand behind her brother. A man in his late forties came through, a smirk on his wrinkled face.

"You never cease to amaze me, Aliema."

She growled, taking on a protective stance in front of the Russian siblings. " _My. Name. Is. Ayden_."

"Mental age is still equivalent to that of an adult. Attitude is that of a regular teenager; moody, stubborn, rebellious."

All three pairs of eyes widened at the familiar dialogue, though they weren't all thinking in the same lines. Elena and Damian were thinking back how those lines were in the first entry they read from Dr. Clayton's journal; Ayden was thinking how she recognized the man before them, yet she couldn't remember his name. She knew he'd been there throughout the experimentation, that he'd helped torture her, but almost nothing else.

"You—"

"Tell me something," she dared herself to cut him off. "Do you have a Mathias working for you?"

He tilted his head to the side, his smirk, however, never wavering. "I have an ally named Mathias. Why? Was he lucky enough to cross you before me?"

Ayden gritted his teeth as she slammed her hands against the bars of the cell, glaring fiercely at him. "I will get out of here. I can promise you that. And then, I will kill you and all your precious little allies and minions," she growled lowly, yet loud enough for only him to hear, unbeknown to her, however, that Damian could somehow hear her now as well; he frowned at her words.

"As long as you are the one behind the bars, your threats won't do me any harm."

She have him an almost sardonic grin, her eyes flashing blue for a moment. "I still stand by my promise, Doctor. And you  _should_  fear me; I  _always_  keep my promises," she warned him before stepping away from the bars.

His smirk didn't waver. "You should note that down for yourself; journalists make too many promises, though they never keep them." And with that, he walked out, leaving a flabbergasted Ayden behind.

"How the heck did you even know about that?!" she called after him, but she was only replied a muffled laugh. She huffed; she didn't care about them knowing about that anymore, she just wanted to know why they were even mocking her about it.

Sure, she hadn't been the best journalist— she hadn't even been an actual journalist. One of her friends who was studying journalism had an aunt who was actually a journalist. His aunt happened to like Ayden well enough that Ayden managed to snatch up the post of a temporary journalist and so she had called herself when she met Jake, before they'd started dating.

She sighed when it was clear the man was gone, and walked over to a corner, a small smile only making its way onto her lips when she noticed Elena on the ground, at the other corner, sound asleep. Huh, and _she_ was the light sleeper. She leaned her head back against the wall as she tried to recollect herself, completely ignoring the pair of striking, light blue eyes staring intently at her.

"You never really were a journalist, were you?"

She bit her lip, shifting uneasily from her spot in the corner of the cell they were being held in. "I was a temporary journalist."

"Bullshit." Damian shook his head. "I heard what the guy said. Why didn't you tell me?"

She scoffed, walking over to the only window in the cell, which was also barred up. " _Why_ would I tell  _you_?"

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, I don't know... maybe because we've known each other for over half a year now and we're supposed to be trusting each other?" he replied sarcastically before emphasizing. "Like normal companions would on a dangerous adventure."

This time, she rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, thank you for the suggestion, Mr. Sarcasm, but I think it's pretty obvious why I didn't tell you," she snapped.

"Really? Please enlighten me then, Miss Jaubert!"

She clenched and unclenched her jaw. "It's Captain to you, and are you really naive enough to believe that a war is the only place one could gain an enemy?" Her eyes were intense as they looked at him. "Do you honestly believe  _he_  is my first and only rival? Or that Clayton is the only one who was after me?"

He was silent for a moment before he got the hint. "Who?"

Ayden didn't answer him immediately. "Lorenzo," was all she said as she leaned against the wall, fumbling with the necklace he had seen her wear just as often as the black onyx guitar-shaped one; it was a small head of a Taurus, carved out of wood, hanging from a thin white ribbon.

Damian furrowed his brows, thinking for a moment before his eyes widened and he walked to stand in front of her. "Louis?"

"Luciano," she corrected, a slight Latin-American accent rolling off her tongue when she said the name.

Luciano Lorenzo was another scientist they had found working in Al-Qaeda when their mission to wipe it out first began. One of the first facilities had been located in New Jersey, and when they had wiped it out, they found out about him, however under the alias Louis Logan, and how he had escaped, then found him later on, after tracking him down, ready to board a plane at the airport, only to find their Captain frozen in shock and surprise.

Damian rolled his eyes. "Not my fault the Italian tried to pass off as an American," he muttered before looking her in the eyes.

It turned out she had known him before the army, as someone else.

"What did he want from you?"

Ayden sighed as she let her backslide against the stone wall until she was on the floor. "He was an obsessed jackass."

"And you paid him no mind because..."

She sighed again. "You met him; I'm sure you can guess how he is."

Ayden had known him as Luis Feliciano, an incredibly rich college professor who taught biochemistry at her school. She never had him as a teacher, though one of her friends did, and, when they met, she instantly knew she wouldn't like him. At the time, she had started dating Jake, and he, too, did not like the thirty-year-old professor.

"Obsessive, possessive, demanding, psychotic, blah, blah— whatever, I know, but he's rich."

But it turned out that Jake and Ayden were right to be suspicious about him as, only a few months later after meeting, they found out what a perverted pedophile he was when she had interviewed him on his job for her Research Methods project as she was still a temporary journalist at the time. The fact of his perversity was only proven when he was discovered to have been following her around, even going as far as spying on her when a girl should be given her privacy. Him being a pedophile... well, he was a freakin' thirty-year-old man stalking a fourteen-year-old girl! She confronted him when Jake had taken her to a shooting range for their four-month anniversary, and to say she was furious with the man for his advances was an understatement.

Ayden looked at Damian with wide eyes, then laughed in disbelief. "You think I'm a money seeker?"

"No, I—"

"I'm a _thrill_  seeker, Grayson. Even the lil' ol' journalist I used to be was a thrill seeker. Why do you think people called me reckless?"

"They still do."

She rolled her eyes. "Me being a thrill seeker, I went on my own little adventures before... before all this." She paused, motioning around them. "And though I just so happened to find things on my little adventures, all I really wanted was the thrill of the ride. But... the objects I found, I never necessarily kept them for the prize— my prize was and always will be the satisfaction of going on an adventure to find it all. I don't care about gold."

He stared at her for a moment. "He tried to buy you."

Luciano had been obsessed with the young girl to no end. However, it wasn't her personality or looks that attracted him, like it'd been for other people. No, it was always her reaction. He loved the way she reacted to anything, and he wished to see how she would react in  _experiments_. Of course, he would've never told her that, but she guessed it as the only thing the man was known to love, other than himself, was his scientific projects, and though he didn't say it outright to her face that he wanted to experiment on the prodigy, she saw through his words instantly and, though it was accidental, she never regretted the way she reacted, even if she'd had to grab Jake's hand and run out of the shooting range, never to return to that place as she was soon banned for causing harm.

"And I shot him, which was a mistake— that only got him more obsessed over me."

Damian chuckled as he went to sit on the ground, right beside her. "Ever thought of just stopping?"

From the time he'd known her, he had come to find out how much she actually loved adventure; she had even admitted once or twice that if she hadn't chosen to study law, she would've gone into archaeology and become an archaeologist or an explorer. She did always have luck when it came to finding things, after all— heck, she could find something of extreme value on a beach.

She scoffed. "Not unless I went through something more fatal than a war like the one we're currently in. Or even this little one on this stupid island. I wouldn't just leave out of tiredness." She stared at the barred door and sighed.

"What's life without adventure?" Damian agreed.

She smiled. "A life without adventure is likely to be unsatisfying, but a life in which adventure is allowed to take whatever form it will is sure to be short."

He chuckled. "And settling down?"

She chuckled softly and shrugged. "I'm only sixteen; I haven't really given it a thought," she said, looking down at her hands.

"Okay, that's another lie, right there." He shook his head. "You don't wanna settle down, do ya? You don't wanna be with someone?"

"Well, I can't just hook up with just anyone," she retorted.

He shook his head. "Nah, I don't think it's about hooking up with anyone, it's something else."

She sighed. "Grayson..."

"What's stopping you?" he insisted. "What's really holding you back?"

She frowned. "I... I don't really know," she admitted.

"But there's something, you just don't wanna admit it."

She didn't answer.

"What are you afraid of?" he asked more softly. "Love?"

"I don't... I don't know, okay?!" she exclaimed, getting up onto her feet and pacing around for a moment before going to stand by the bars of the cell. "For years I've been looking for something that's only led me to dead ends... and yet I still bother and I don't even know why..." She halted in her pace, frowning, her eyes shifting to the ground. "I... I just don't know anymore. What I've wanted and what I want now... it's never been clear. I know that with time everything changes, but... I still don't know what I really want."

He shook his head, a deep chuckle rumbling in his throat as he got up and stood right behind her. "'Course you know what you want, you just won't accept that it's the same as what everybody else wants."

She turned to look at him, eying him dubiously. "And how do you know that?" she asked.

Taking one step toward her, testing the salt water, he said, "Because, for as long as I can remember, I've wanted it too."

For a moment, all they could do was stare into each other's eyes. She wanted to look away, she really did; staring into his eyes made her feel strange inside. In what way, she had no idea, but she just had to look away, but she just couldn't.

Suddenly, it almost felt as though they were too close to each other, even though there was quite a long distance between them.

Clearing her throat, she managed to speak steadily. "And what is _it_? A mysterious stranger I just met on an island and just happens to have all the answers?"

Damian shrugged. "Well, first off, though technically we  _did_  meet on an island, I'm not a stranger anymore, even less mysterious. As for having all the answers... well, I have been going around for a while, long enough to learn a few things."

"So  _Damian_ , tell me, what is _it_?" she repeated, tilting her head to the side curiously.

For long, seemingly endless seconds, Damian said nothing. Suddenly, a small smile curled onto his lips as he stepped even closer, placing his hands on her hips, making her hyperaware of the very short distance left between them. "An all-consuming love. Passion and adventure..." A small smirk replaced the smile on his lips as he added in a playful manner, "And even a little danger."

"Is that what you still want?" she asked him softly, surprising herself, for she only used such a tone with her family.

It was his turn to shrug. "Well, no one wants a love that hurts."

She laughed softly, looking into his light blue eyes. "I don't think anyone can find love that won't hurt them in some way."

"You just gotta look more thoroughly."

Ayden scoffed half-heartedly. "Yeah? Who the hell can give _that_ to me?"

He leaned in closer till his lips were hovering over hers. "Me," he answered before kissing her sweetly and passionately.

It took her a few moments to grasp what just happened, though when she finally realized it, she pulled as far away as she could and regarded him with wide eyes.

"You just kissed me," she whispered.

He gave her a small smile, caressing her cut cheek. "I know."

She frowned, stepping away from him. "You can't do that."

This time, he frowned. He took a step toward her, but she immediately stepped backward, both unaware of the large figure that entered their cell. "Ayden—"

"No! You can't do th—"

_BANG!_

Damian fell to the ground, a bullet forged into his forehead.

Ayden let out an emotionally pained scream as she stepped forward. She saw the bullet fall from his skull and the hole beginning to close, but she couldn't seem to grasp that; all she could think was how he was shot in the head before a stabbing pain was inflicted into her neck and she found herself fading out of consciousness, the last sound coming to her ear being Elena's voice shouting out her name as she felt herself being dragged away.

When Ayden woke up with a gasp and they removed the black plastic bag from her head. They had drugged her again, then placed a plastic bag on her head. It had been a miracle that she hadn't suffocated to death.

Suddenly, the bag was ripped from her head and she found herself strapped onto a metal table, her arms tied to her sides, making her unable to move at all. She lifted her head the most she could and glanced around, her jaw tightening when she saw the man come into the laboratory-like room. It was the last man to have mocked her in the cell she'd shared with the Shostakovitch siblings, and the one she recognized to have attended to the torturous experimentation proceeded upon her.

Her head exhaustively slammed back onto the table; they had sedated her again, weakening her every move.

"I recognize you now," she slurred. "You're Doctor Cake... no... Blake."

He gave her an empty smile, then proceeded by checking Ayden's eyes with a flashlight before checking her stomach.

"As much as I would like a free checkup," she said, looking him straight in the eye. "You're gonna let me go."

The Doctor smiled again and patted Ayden on the shoulder. "That's a good try, but your ability to compel has not been activated yet."

She snorted drunkenly. "Activated? Pft. You're talking like you put some kind of... some kind of microchip or something in me..."

"Actually, we did. We put it in your neck before the Serum, though it hasn't been activated yet. I think I'll have to replace it, though. The controls to activate the one you currently have, have been destroyed throughout your savage little tantrum."

She rolled her eyes in annoyance. "You know, most people would buy me dinner first," she replied sarcastically.

He chuckled. He fuckin' chuckled. "This isn't a personal matter."

She scoffed. "That's what Lorenzo said, and look how that turned out!" she muttered.

He chuckled again. "Ah, yes, Luciano Lorenzo."

"Oh, great, you know him."

"He's how I know about you. It was only a... coincidence that I happened to had joined Clayton on his little experimentation, and that you happened to have been the chosen experiment. No, wait.. you hadn't been chosen. You simply decided to play hero and take your boyfriend's place."

She growled. "He's not my boyfriend," she snapped.

He rolled his eyes, his experimenting never faltering. "Nevertheless, as I said before, it's nothing personal. It's just for the advancement of science."

"Psycho-Einstein, what the hell are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

"Fine, then, elaborate."

He sighed. "Dr. Clayton turned you into some kind of vampiric super soldier. I don't know if your blood can heal others as it is unreproducible, but I  _do_  know that your body heals itself. You'll regenerate parts of internal organs," He picked up a scalpel. "After I remove them."

Ayden seemed to snap out of her drunkenness at those words. "Listen. How I got this amazing body has nothing to do with science. It was a simple miracle that I survived that explosion, and my vitals have already been checked. I am unreproducible, so running— AAH!" She was cut off by Dr. Blake stabbing her with the scalpel on her eye.

"You talk too much."

And he unstrapped her, and she fell to the ground, wheezing in pain for a long moment before falling out of consciousness.

* * *

Damian's eyes snapped open and he instantly sat up, immediately regretting it when he was almost thrown back down by the pounding headache he had.

"Ow," he groaned, running a hand across his face.

Elena yelped in shock and surprise. "Damian?!"

He groaned again, covering his eyes. "Not so loud, would ya? I've got a killer heada—"

"That's because you were shot in the head!" He cringed, and she immediately apologized. "Sorry, it's just... you're not even supposed... you're— how are you alive?"

"I... I don't kn—"

Damian was cut off by a deep, rumbling growl, and then a high-pitched scream that was horribly familiar. Elena squealed, terrified, and covered her ears, shutting her eyes tight as tears kept pouring from them and rolling down her reddened cheeks. Damian dragged himself across the ground over to his sister and pulled her into his arms.

"They took her," he heard her mumble. "We just got her back and he took her again," she sobbed. "They're torturing her, Damian!"

"Shh, Lena," he hushed her, holding her tighter against him. "We'll find a way out, and we'll escape with Ayden, okay?"

"How?"

"... I don't know, but we'll get out of here."

* * *

"Hey." Poke. "Hey... er... little girl..." Poke. "Wake up." Poke. "You awake?" Poke.

She groaned, weakly trying to swat the hand that kept poking her face away, to no avail, however. "I am now," she grumbled. "Who... what..."

She didn't seem able to articulate more, and that got her frowning. However, she remained with her eyes closed as she could still feel the stinging pain from her eye being stabbed. That, and there was also the fact that she was blindfolded. Confused, she raised a hand to her face, though she found herself hissing in slight pain when she felt her wrists being pulled back by a soaked rope.

"Yup, you're tied down too," an unfamiliar voice said. It was a girl, that much Ayden knew.

"Who..."

"I'm Rosalie... and you're Ayden."

Ayden's brows furrowed as she backed away warily. "How..."

"I was on the  _Endurance_  too. I've crossed you a few times in the halls with Steph?" No response. "On deck?" No reply. She groaned. "I'm blonde!"

Ayden frowned, then felt her brows raise slightly in recognition. She remembered now, meeting a blonde girl who always stuck by Stephanie. Sam called them the blond duo as they were like two peas in a pod; it was rare to see them apart.

"Rosalie... Bains?"

Rosalie grinned and nodded, mentally face-palming herself when she remembered Ayden couldn't see her.

"Did they..." Ayden cleared her throat. "Did they do anything to you?"

"They injected me with something that heals me quickly... and that lets me breathe underwater. I know that part because they tried to drown me after I healed from the cuts on my arms, but... surprise, surprise— I'm Aquamarine without a tail."

"How long..."

"It's been about a week and a half since the shipwreck... and two days since we've both been in this cell, though I think you've been experimented on longer. They experimented on me two days ago since you were still out like a corpse, but they haven't done anything since then, nor to the other pair."

"... the other pair?"

Rosalie hummed in confirmation. "A girl about your age, and a dude— probably her brother— about my age, though they've been separated, and the guy's not as lucky as me or her. They've been starving him. At least to me and the girl, they've given food— oh! I saved some for you. I could guess you haven't eaten anything since that one time on the ship and you threw up— and I'm gonna stop talking now. Sorry, I usually babble when I'm nervous."

"It's fine," Ayden murmured. She was relieved to hear that Elena was somewhat alright, but they were still hurting her. And Damian! God, the memory of how they met still somewhat terrified Ayden, and to think that they might be doing worse things to him...

"Here." She felt Rosalie press something dry, yet slightly soft against her lips. Ayden recoiled; what the hell was she trying to give her? "It's bread. I'm tied down too, but not as much as you... do you want me to take the blindfold off? Your eye must be healed already."

Ayden sighed. "You heard?"

"I think I would've heard it from another country— it was so loud! Sorry!" she quickly added.

Ayden let out a half-hearted chuckle. "It's fine. Could you...?" She motioned toward her face.

Rosalie nodded and put the bread aside before getting closer to Ayden and gently beginning to untie the blindfold. Once it was loose around the young girl's eyes, she let it fall. The girl sat there, breathing heavily, her eyes still closed. It hurt. She could feel it to have already been healed, but the pain was still there, and she was visibly scared of opening her eyes; she was afraid of finding out whether she was blind again. Though at the time, she had somehow become capable of following heat signatures with her then blind eyes, the idea of not being able to see at all was frightening, especially for someone who had already experienced it.

"Hey," Rosalie said softly, placing a gentle hand on the side of her face. "It's okay. You're gonna be okay."

"You don't know that," Ayden whispered.

Rosalie gave her a small smile, even though she could not see it through her closed eyes. "You're right, I don't. But neither of us will if you don't open your eyes."

Ayden let out a small whimper. "I... I'm..."

"Scared, I know." A faint blush made its way onto Ayden's lightly scarred cheeks. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about; it's alright to be scared, even for a soldier. You're just a kid, you don't have to act so though, never mind that you're a Captain."

Ayden bit her lip.

"Come on," Rosalie encouraged. "Don't you wanna see what I look like? I mean, I'm pretty sure all you've got in mind is the blond hair."

The look on Ayden's face turned sheepish.

Rosalie chuckled. "Don't worry about," she soothed. "If it turns out you can't see, well, you'll have me to help you out."

A panicked looked made its way onto the Canadian's face. "Don't say that," she whispered. "Every person.... everyone that says that... they always end up leaving— walking away, or dead. Don't say you'll be there—"

"But I will. Come on, Ayden. Just go slowly... we'll count to three. Together, okay?"

Ayden was silent for a moment, before finally giving a small nod.

Rosalie smiled. "Alright. One," she said, then Ayden joined her in a whisper. "Two..."

 _Three_.

Her eyes fluttered open, her long lashes brushing against her cheekbones, emitting a small awed gasp from Rosalie as her blue-green eyes locked themselves with a pair of tricolor orbs. It was strange, yet quite beautiful, especially on a girl like Ayden, who had natural beauty, despite the many scars on her skin. Ayden stared blankly in front of her, for a moment, blinking owlishly, before a small smile made its way onto her face.

She could see, and what she saw was what brought her relief; she would much rather open her eyes to a nice, pretty girl, than those assholes who were enjoyed torturing her. Though she had a few scars here and there, Rosalie was a beautiful young woman with a pale complexion, blue-green eyes and medium length blonde hair which was slightly wavy, despite it being messy. She was visibly tall (probably as tall as she was herself) and slim, with the toned and athletic figure of a cheerleader.

"I can see," she whispered.

Rosalie gave her a radiant smile that pretty much illuminated the room, despite the actual setting and current circumstances. "See? I told you there was nothing to worry about. Now, here."

She had to feed Ayden as the young girl's movements were limited due to her bounds. Though it was a really small portion of food, it was rather satisfying. However, it was dry, and the burn in her throat was coming back.

"Oh, right. They left that thing there for you."

"What thing?"

"This." Rosalie reached behind her and brought out a small, metal canteen. "I was thirsty too, but they said this was only for you. They even had a guy in here to make sure I wouldn't drink it!" She huffed. "Those bastards," she muttered.

Moving a bit more, Ayden grabbed it in her hands, uncapped it, and brought it to her lips, drinking it greedily. However, a few seconds later into her drink, as the liquidized substance passed her tongue and flowed down her throat, her senses snapped as the realization came crashing onto her like a fallen chopper and she quickly threw the bottle to the other side of the cell.

"Oh, my God," she choked out, looking at the canteen with terrified eyes.

Rosalie, who had been lost in her own thoughts, snapped back into reality and looked at Ayden with concern-filled eyes as she noticed a bit of blood dripping from the young girl's mouth.

"Whoa! Hey! Are you okay? How are you bleedi—"

But Ayden cut her off with a stiff shake of her head. "It's not mine," she whispered.

Rosalie frowned in confusion, then glanced over at the other side of the cell, her eyes widening in shock and disbelief when she noticed the red substance oozing out of the open canteen. She looked back at Ayden, eyes still wide, before glancing back at the bottle in horror.

"Oh, my God," she whispered in realization, glancing back at Ayden. "They fed you...?"

Ayden nodded, swallowing hard, cringing slightly as the bloody taste in her mouth went down her throat and she made no attempt to spit it out. "That's not even the worst part," she mumbled.

"What?"

Ayden finally looked at Rosalie, straight in the eyes. "The worst part is, I  _liked_  it," she managed to choke out.

_... some kind of vampiric super soldier..._

Her hand flew to her mouth as she fought back tears. "What have they done to me?!" she croaked, sobbing tearlessly as Rosalie, though frightened as well at the possible answer, pulled her into her arms and embraced her carefully, as a mother would hold her child.

* * *

"Damian!" Elena cried out as her brother was thrown back into the cell he had been sharing with her a few days before.

"Elena!" He stumbled onto his feet, then rushed over to her and grabbed her face between his hands, looking for any scars, wounds or bruises. "They didn't hurt you did they? They didn't—"

" _Я в порядке, брат._ _Они не коснулись меня, как они сделали тебе и_ _Ayden_."  **(I'm fine, brother. They haven't touched me like they did you and Ayden.)**  She frowned. " _Слышали ли вы от нее? Что-нибудь?_ "  **(** **Have** **you** **heard** **from** **her** **?** **Anything?)**

He let out a defeated breath, shaking his head as she let go of his sister. "I'm sorry."

She choked back a sob, placing her face between her hands. "Where are you, Ayden?" she whispered.

Damian sighed. He was just as distraught as his sister when it came to Ayden. The girl who claimed to dislike him so much, and yet happened to give herself up to save him. He groaned as he flopped onto the ground. However, a smirk made its way onto lips when his eyes caught sight of a broken piece of glass and a rock. Ignoring the glass, he grabbed the rock from the floor and started carving on the cell's rock wall.

"What are you doing?" Elena sniffled.

"I am currently weakened from the experimentation, but the results are meant to enhance my strength."

"That... doesn't explain anything."

"I'll try to start carving a way out. When my strength goes back to 'normal', we'll be out of here."

"Won't they notice a big hole in a stone cell."

He smirked. "I'm countin' on it."

* * *

"My parents were archaeologists." Rosalie smiled, her fingers absentmindedly fiddling with the young brunette's hair. "I had always admired their work and always wanted to go on adventures like the ones they went on when they were younger."

"Where are they now?" Ayden asked softly, looking up from where she laid in the older girl's arms.

Rosalie took a moment to answer. "They passed away on their last expedition. They were planning on coming to Yamatai next, but... since they didn't make it, I thought of coming here myself. You know... to honor them."

Ayden hummed in understanding. "I'm sorry you had to lose them. I know it's hard... losing someone you lo— care for deeply. But don't worry. You won't be disappointed; Yamatai is real."

Rosalie's brows shot upward in surprise. "Really?"

"Yup. I didn't get to see the whole thing— you know, the whole capturing thing." Rosalie nodded. "But I got to see part of the palace. It's really there."

Rosalie grinned and hugged Ayden, surprising the daylights out of her, even though she was already in her arms for practically the past two hours they'd spent awake in that cell, since they introduced each other, and Rosalie got her to take off the blindfold and open her eyes.

Suddenly, something was thrown into their cell, causing them to break apart. They glanced around in confusion, though their answer came as smoke began to fill the air, and Rosalie started feeling rather drunken, while Ayden was dragged into a dark, foggy abyss.

Rosalie was almost losing consciousness, though she seemed to fight it much harder when she noticed some guards, wearing masks, come in and begin to drag the younger girl out of the cell.

"Hey! Where are you taking her?" she meant to ask, but her words came out slurred and switched around: "Hey! We... you... her taking?"

One of the guards laughed, understanding what she was wondering even though her question had come out like that of a two-year-old.

"Don't worry your pretty little blonde head." She scowled. "We're just taking our asset—" Her scowl turned into a tired glare. "— out for some... _physical_ training."

Knowing there was nothing she could do. Rosalie only continued to glare at the masked guard until she passed out from the toxic-scented gas, the last word she spoke being the young soldier's name.

"Ayden..."


	9. Bloody Ponds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Though this chapter basically explains why the protagonist in this story changes... drastically, it also expresses some severely explicit, violent and gory content, so you know if you're old enough to read it, or want to either way, by all means— go right ahead.
> 
> This chapter is my original version, though, just a forewarning, it is very detailed... and quite frankly, after having re-read it myself it is pretty nasty as it's not exactly a 'love' scene, and it has NOTHING romantic about it.
> 
> I'll just put it out there— it's a rape scene. Putting that aside, I hope you... like the chapter?
> 
> If you want to read the 'clean' version of this chapter, you can read it in either one of me Quotev or Wattpad publications. If you want to skip that, just scroll all the way down, where you'll find the links to that posted chapter.

When she came around a while later, her consciousness seeped in slowly as her head pounded. Her eyes opened as her senses began to come into focus, only to widen in horror as she took stock of her situation.

She was hanging naked by her arms, which were secured with heavy chains from a large wooden beam in the ceiling, her lengthened hair tied back into, possibly, the messiest pony-tail in existence. She had a long, thick piece of cloth wrapped around her mouth, gagging her.

Panic overtook her, and Ayden began to scream into the gag as she struggled wildly yanking her arms against the restraints, tears beginning to pour from her eyes. Movement, however, was impossible. Escape impossible. Ayden struggled futilely until exhaustion forced her to stop. Breathing heavily, sweat and a tad bit of blood dripping from her body, she began to focus on her surroundings.

She could not see much of the room around her since there was only a small light above her head allowing her to see only a few feet beyond where she stood. Mostly, her currently bad sight was due to the tears accumulated in her eyes. 

 _Shiver_. 

The room was cold and silent, and no light seeped into it from outside, nor could she see the walls to the room from where she stood.

However, she could smell blood, and she knew for certain it was not the one drying on her skin, which was her own, mixed with the one of the Russian man's she had killed earlier. She had to squeeze her eyes for a moment as she fought the burning sensation in her throat, which had only been increasing since she'd landed on the island.

Ayden stood on the balls of her feet as she struggled to relieve the pressure mounting in her wrists and shoulders. She was tied with her arms pulled above her head, her wrists held with a rope that bit into her skin, secured to a chain hanging from the ceiling. Her ankles cramped painfully as the rope holding her wrists forced her to stand on the balls of her feet to maintain contact with the floor. Her legs were left unbound, but the small bit of freedom would do her little relief with her arms tied as they were. The gag, however, that had been stuffed into her mouth was still firmly lodged between her teeth, causing more discomfort and helplessness. The gag, though being a piece of cloth, somehow bit deeply into the sides of her mouth and her jaw began cramping painfully.

As the minutes passed, Ayden searched her memory for an answer as to how she got here. She remembered escaping the burning building, then killing a few other enemy soldiers before going up a ladder while speaking with Roth over the walkie-talkie. She remembered reaching the top of the cliff, then being knocked out, reuniting with Elena and Damian, only to be taken away, then wake up a few days later to officially meet Rosalie Bains. Beyond that, however, her memory was blank.

Again, tears began to flow down her cheeks; tears of frustration, pain, and fear. Suddenly, she heard a slightly familiar disembodied male voice coming from the darkness.

" _Captain Ayden Jaubert..._ "

Her brows furrowed. How did that person know her name?

" _Nineteen years old..._ "

Since the birth of the Feral Force, Ayden had fallen into the habit of being a smart mouth when she confronted her enemies. And, being the smart mouth she now was, she was so tempted to correct the stranger and tell him that she was really sixteen, but the gag in her mouth and the coolness of the atmosphere only reminded her of her situation and blanked her mind, tensing her whole body.

"O _ne hundred and fifteen pounds, five feet and eight inches tall, firm size C breasts, brown hair... strange **tricolor** eyes— a mix of blue, purple, and brown._"

Hearing this, Ayden began to squirm again, low whimpers emitting from her gagged mouth.

The voice continued. " _Subject retrieved just a few days ago from a cliff on the Island of Yamatai. Healing ability has been tested; right eye was stabbed; Subject can still see. Resistance against her newly created weakness is still in effect. She has only just recently awoken and has no idea what is in store for her. She will be tortured, broken and rebuilt to accept her new role in life; the soul of the Solarii, and the fist of the Typhon Assembly, a reformed Al-Qaeda._ "

At that moment, the entire room was lit with several bright lights, revealing to Ayden, for the first time, that she was in a room about twenty feet square with solid stone walls and bare dirt floor. It looked like a dungeon cell. The light was bright and Ayden was forced to shut her eyes to shield them, but even when opened she saw only a blur through her desperate, tearful eyes.

After hearing the voice again, which, now that she thought about it, was  _really_  familiar, she burst into desperate, yet futile struggling. Every muscle in her body flexed against the restraints. All the while Ayden let out long shrill wails into the gag, which succeeded in keeping even her desperate cries for mercy restrained and helpless. Oblivious to, or encouraged by her struggles, Ayden could not tell which, the voice continued to narrate about what was about to happen to her.

" _The life and identity that you once knew are over,_ " he said quietly. Ayden twitched, pulling slightly on her wrists causing a sharp pain in return as the ropes dug deeper. Continuing, the voice said, " _you have been taken from your former life, and will never be allowed to return to it. Now we will take from you your very identity, destroying forever the person that you were, and creating in her place a submissive, obedient weapon. We will begin your transformation by teaching you to answer to your new name._ "

" _From now on you will only answer to your new name, **Aliema**._ " He spoke the words as if he had said them hundreds of times. It was familiar to his tongue.

Ayden recoiled in fear, pulling to get free while screaming through the gag; she might've been scared, but she was more than angry. They had no right to do this to her, or to anyone for that matter.

"Go to hell!" Ayden screamed these words and many others like them, but only she could hear them, for the gag transformed her words into unrecognizable and meaningless sounds.

Ayden jumped and let out a small yelp through the gag as she saw the large metal door in front her swing open and Dr. Blake walk in; he was the one who had been talking, through an intercom, and undoubtedly recording himself through that small recorder in his hand. He was then followed by two more men, with one of them carrying a long slender box. Ayden watched as the first man walked up to her and stopped, just three feet from where she hung helplessly. He then lifted into Ayden's view a long leather whip.

At that moment, Ayden caught in the face of her tormentor something that chilled her to the bone. In his face, she could see that even though her words were muffled he knew full well what she was saying and what she really wanted. He had heard it before, hundreds of times, and it only made him all the more insane as he thirsted for this kind of reaction from all his experiments.

No. Not all of them. Ayden began to believe that she was the first one to go through this, and, perhaps she was right.

Hopelessness began to settle on her now as she came to grips with the reality that this was going to happen, and she was powerless to stop it. To Ayden's surprise, Dr. Blake began removing her gag by unfastening it from behind her head and removed the cloth that had been lodged between her teeth for hours. As soon as the gag was removed, Ayden took on a different approach; she was hung naked in front of many men, and that could only mean one thing, but, for her own sake, she wanted to know that they weren't only doing it because they were perverted psychos, that would just make her feel more ashamed of her defeat.

Letting out a ragged breath, she croaked, "Why are you doing this?"

"Don't you mean to ask  _what_  I'm planning?" Ayden didn't even have the strength to glare at him, though it was clear she wanted to. "Your DNA is still unreproducible,  _but_  breeding it has not been tested."

Her eyes widened in terror as she realized what he was implying.

"However, I thought I should be a little... 'nicer' to my companions, and let them have their  _fun_  throughout this test."

Ayden was unable to utter a word as she became paralyzed with fear and shock. She simply froze in place, unsure of what to do. That was when the whip fell, streaming across her chest from the top of her right breast up over her shoulder, and finally resting its savage momentum on her shoulder blade. Pain swelled across her chest and, now, perfectly audible cries were let loose from her now unfettered mouth.

She winced in pain, but then another fell upon her, this time across her torso. This was followed by another, then three more after that, in rapid succession. The whip fell across her breasts, thighs and then two more dealt punishment to her rear. The whip continued to fall across her body, never striking in the same place twice. Her chest, back, thighs and buttocks— all felt the punishment. The whip continued to fall against her bare and unprotected skin, its target area alternating at random.

Finally, unable to take it any longer and nearly out of breath from screaming in pain, Ayden let out in a raspy exhausted voice, "Stop... please."

"I'm afraid that can't happen. As I told you before, it's for the advancement of science."

This time, she managed to muster up a glare in his direction, from under her thick, slightly tangled lashes. "You're... insane...."

He gave her a smirk. "I see it more as passion for science."

"Well, you got a weird way of being passionate about somethin'," she couldn't help but retort with a bit of attitude, albeit the whips still slapping against her weakened body.

That made them all chuckle. "That's the way it is with men of science."

She couldn't reply anymore; she let her head fall limp, her body dangling from her wrists.

"Aliema, would you like to siphon a phallus?" he asked nonchalantly.

He stood, waiting for her response. Ayden hung there again, not sure how to answer; she didn't even know what those words he said meant; then again, he was a scientist, a man of his vocabulary. However, the way he was looking at her, the edge in his tone— it was enough to let her know what he was talking about, and that only made her more nervous as she thought how to answer. She knew what answer he wanted, but the question was being asked to her, and when she was asked a question, she was honest.

"No," she replied bluntly. "I don't want to... whatever a... whatever."

The man holding the whip did not even react; he didn't even move. Instead, Ayden felt something press against for right buttock then a searing jolt of electricity shooting through her body. Her whole body shook and quivered from the jolt. She realized that one of the two men standing behind her that she had almost completely forgotten about must have shocked her with some kind of electrical device.

Ayden screamed in pain and horror as she felt the device again press against her skin. She screamed and kicked her legs, twisting and turning, trying to escape it. Finally, the shock subsided, but the pain remained as the wound burned and throbbed, healing at an agonizingly slow pace. Tears flowed down her face, soaking her face and chest.

"Stop! Please, just stop... I'll... whatever that whatever you said. But, please just stop— it burns!" Ayden cried out.

Dr. Blake looked at her, "Do you want to be fucked with all of your holes being used?"

Her eyes widened at, not only the change in vocabulary but the fact that he was even asking her that.

Did he not see the tears streaming down her face?!

She soon found herself even freezing in shock as the painful device was pressed, once again, onto her skin. This time into her left buttock. Fresh agony shot through her body. Her throat, hoarse from screaming, emitted another shriek as she felt the electrical shock tear through her body.

"It's a cattle prod. And we can be here all day until you tell me what I want to hear," the man standing in front of her finally spoke.

"Fine! Yes! Just stop!" Ayden let out the words as if held in against some enormous pressure. She didn't care, she just wanted the pain to stop. She sobbed uncontrollably and a wave of pure exhaustion fell over her as she gasped for breath.

"Do you want all of your holes used?" the man asked.

"Honestly no," she blurted out, her body instantly tensing when she felt the hot cattle prod approaching her skin. "Sorry! Look, I can act for a school play, but don't ask me to lie about somethin' like this. You're asking me a question, and I'm being honest, okay?! I don't want to be raped, man! I was freakin' saving myself for marriage!"

Blake chuckled, shaking his head. "Science is what shapes life, girl. Not marriage." He turned his back to her and his men and walked toward the door. "Make sure you do as planned," he instructed his men who all gave a synchronized nod.

And he continued toward the door.

And he planned to leave her there alone.

With God knows how many men— no, wait! There's three.

Okay, he planned to leave her with three of his men... but still!

"I just told you I don't wanna be raped!" she exclaimed herself, looking after him in disbelief.

He reached the door and turned, giving her a sadistic smile. "And you should know by now that your opinion is no longer valid on this island." He opened the door and, from where she stood, she could see two other men waiting there. "Come on," she heard him tell them. "We've got a gorgeous tall blonde waiting to be checked up."

She knew who he was talking about, but she was too out of it to even say or do anything about it, and she barely felt the cold misty spray that hit her face just below her nostrils. Within moments, Ayden felt her consciousness slip away from her and darkness fell around her as her eyelids closed off the light in the room.

—————————————————————

Rosalie laid on a test bed, in a dark room. She opened her eyes and looked around; there was an empty bag of blood on an IV stand, lamps. She looked very weak; she was. She glanced at one end of the room and saw a staircase, where Dr. Blake was walking down, followed by one tall, rough-looking man, and a smaller one who was wearing a lab coat much like Dr. Blake wore himself.

"Subject 94293 appears conscious."

Rosalie snapped her attention from where it'd been locked on the staircase and looked at the mad scientist who was already looking down at her.

"Where am I?" she asked weakly. "What did you do with Ayden? And those two other prisoners?"

"That is none of your concern at the moment," Dr. Blake replied curtly.

She frowned and looked around, her frown deepening when she saw a big dialysis machine. "What is that thing?" She tried to get loose, but with no success. "What are you doing to me?"

"94293 resume prep for blood dialysis." He put a mask over Rosalie. "Count from 10. 9, 8, 7, 6, 5..."

And she fell asleep.

—————————————————————

Ayden awoke, laying on her back, on a hard metal platform inside a cell. She was still naked and her arms were bound painfully across her chest. With her left wrist being tied to the right side of the table and her right wrist tied to the left. Her shoulders burned with the pain of being stretched to the extreme and it prevented her from moving even a tiny bit without great pain. Her legs were tied to the sides of the table-hard bunk by her ankles, leaving her spread and exposed.

The gag was also back in her mouth.

When she first awoke and tried to sit up, in addition to her arms and legs being secured, there was another strap across her chest just below her breasts holding her flat on the table. She could not tell how long she had been locked in this room, which had no windows and no light.

She laid in total darkness.

She awoke a while ago and found herself there. Her body still stung and throbbed from the whip, her eye still hurt from having been stabbed, and her side, where the spiked metal bar had pierced through when she'd fallen from her cocoon in the cavern on her first day on the island, hadn't healed yet, nor had the stupid doctor done anything to heal it. Every part of her body ached from her earlier tortures as well as the uncomfortable position she was stuck in for what had to be hours at least.

Tears had fallen steadily since she woke up, but her dehydrated body had run out of tears. Now, she laid there wondering why she hadn't tried to escape yet... but, then she remembered how they'd overdosed her with that sedative that was still unknown to her. She winced as she sighed in defeat. Something horrible was about to happen to her— much more horrible than any torture she had gone through. And once they began, there would be no going back. Once they began, no matter how much she'd beg for mercy, she knew they wouldn't give it to her, not even out of pity.

Game over.

Those two words echoed in her mind and never stopped mocking her, not even when they finally came for her. Ayden had no idea how long she had waited, but all she knew was that it was far too long. She was un-gagged, then released from the bunk and had her arms secured behind her back in the next second before she was led by two men, different than the ones from before, into another room that had a metal table with a padded top set in the middle of it.

The table had four legs with support bars connecting all four of the legs a few inches from the ground. As she was lead closer to the table, Ayden could tell it was exactly waist height to her and she soon found out why. She was bent over the table lengthwise and her arms, released then, were pulled over the other side of the table and bound with several thick cable ties to one of the support bars near the floor. Ayden didn't struggle much as they bound her. She knew these men would easily overpower her if she tried to escape, especially in the state she was. She kept hoping her super soldier strength would miraculously return and enable her to run away, but that was seemingly not happening any time soon.

Her legs were spread and tied to each table leg at the ankle. The table was just long enough that, bent over at the waist, her head stuck out over the other end. She was now painfully stretched over the length of the table, completely nude, her bare breasts pressed into the cold vinyl that began to warm up from the heat of her body. She was totally exposed.

Finally, one of the men spoke.

"You begged to be fucked, and now you'll get what you asked for."

Ayden tensed as he spoke. She was not surprised by the man telling her this. She had expected it from when she was first taken, especially after her little ordeal with the Russian she had had to kill a while back, but to hear it out loud and to know it was coming at any moment only made her panic and instinctively pull a little at her wrists. Unfortunately, they were tight and not getting any looser. She froze as three naked men entered the room and approached her. One took position at her head and the other from behind, while the third stood off to the side. Ayden was suddenly staring straight into a large and very erect cock.

She cringed; sure, she was old and mature enough to be... well, mature about those intimate body parts, but her being who she was; she'd always been uncomfortable with anything that was involved in 'those' kind of interactions.

"What?! Wait! No! I didn't s—" Ayden began to protest, but she was cut off as the man fitted a metal gag into her mouth and fastened it around her neck.

The gag both prevented her from speaking and from closing her mouth. Once the gag was in place, the man rammed his cock into her mouth and began thrusting in and out. At the same time, an agonized scream got stuck in her throat when she felt the other man push between the delicate folds of her vulva, and penetrate her deeply, and pounding her into the most internal painful oblivion.

The pain was intense as her entrance below was being pounded dry, and her delicate insides were pounded raw, all the while nearly choking on the masculine member being jammed down her throat. Then, before she had even adjusted to the double penetration, another searing pain shot across her back and a guttural scream was muffled by the member in her mouth.

The third man was biding his time by whipping her across her exposed back. Ayden yanked at her bonds instinctively, but it only cut her skin and gained her nothing. Then, again, the whip came down and she yelped and gasped for breath between the men's thrusts.

—————————————————————

Rosalie woke up to muffled screams, still disoriented. She tried to register her surroundings as she then began to hear a cheerful humming. Rosalie tried to move, but then realized she was still strapped down. She continued her attempts at breaking her constraints but stopped without any success.

"What's happening?" she mumbled, struggling against the restraints again.

Rosalie turned to look to her left and found herself waking up a bit more when she saw man strapped to a test bed beside her.

He looked at her and gave her an empty smile. "Ah. Welcome. I'm 23255. My name's Eddie... well, really it's Edwin, but that name's crap."

Rosalie stared at him, taken aback, then quickly looked horrified as she realized that she, Ayden, nor the other two prisoners were the only ones suffering.

That Blake dude was a serious psychopath.

"You must be Rosalie," he continued.

She turned her head slightly and gave him a weird look. "Are you just trying, or has this whole experimentation shit made you a creeper?"

He shrugged slightly— well, as best as he could while being strapped down. "I guess it runs in the family."

The look on her face became that of confusion. "Family?"

He looked at her and gave her a humorless grin. "Oh, yeah. Doctor Blake? My little bro."

Rosalie's eyes widened in shock.

"What?"

—————————————————————

For several minutes, the actions performed upon Ayden continued until both men shot their loads into her. She felt their warm semen shooting deep into her through both down below, and up down her throat, overflowing down her chin. Her eyes shut tightly as she internally grimaced at the disgusting taste that filled her mouth; the substance ejaculated from the man's member tasted like egg whites mixed with saltwater.

She'd always disliked egg whites for some reason that was unknown even to her. And saltwater? She'd had enough of that to last her more than a lifetime!

When the men were finished, the two who had just raped her virgin mouths left the room, stepping aside as more entered. Despite her terror, her eyes could not go any wider. Just as before, one of the new men stood to the side, and the man who had whipped her before he took position at her back and the other new man stood at her head. Ayden's despair was complete as she realized this would continue endlessly. But her thought was cut short as she felt her tight rear being invaded by a hard thick masculine member.

"No, please don't!" But the gag in her mouth muffled her voice as, once again, she was answered with a penis forced into her throat.

And, as the thrusting began from both ends, Ayden soon felt the sting of the whip across her back again. The pain in her back and rear was indescribable. Ayden could not believe the pain as her anus was torn apart from the inside as it was dryly pounded. This cycle would continue unabated over and over again, an endless stream of penises would just pound away at her for what seemed like several hours, but she had no way of really knowing for sure. Always one in her mouth, but the men behind her would alternate from her mouth below to her anus, then back and forth, each and every man knowing to switch.

Finally, Ayden was released from the table and barely able to walk on her own. Her legs were wobbly, her arms falling limply to her sides as they led her away from the table. However, when one of the naked men pushed her slightly forward, a bit roughly, as they led her toward the exit of the room, she snapped. She stopped dead on her tracks, body going from limp and weak, too rigid and cautious. Her head, however, she kept hanging, looking down at the ground, her eyes hiding behind her lengthened fringe.

One of them used the handle of the black whip and poked her hard with it. "Hey, keep movin'."

Her hands balled up into fists as she felt her face begin to shift in a strange way. "I... have had... enough... of all of you," she said, her tone slow and low.

The men braced themselves, suddenly alert and internally panicking as she slowly began to raise her head.

"And I'm... hungry. No one... has fed me."

Trying to keep a tough look, albeit being naked, the man who had previously spoken said, "I told you to keep movin',  _сука_."  **(bitch)**

Her eyes squinted slightly. "When I'm hungry... no one... tells me... what to do..."

—————————————————————

"Your own brother put you here?"

"I have no brother," Dr. Blake said firmly as he came back into the room.

Eddie chuckled. "You're just mad because I insulted your intelligence all those years ago in front of mom and pops."

"And experimenting on him is your form of revenge?!" Rosalie exclaimed herself, looking at the doctor in disbelief.

"I wouldn't experiment on my brother," said Dr. Blake. "If I had one."

Rosalie gave him a pointed look, but he simply ignored it as he walked over to the big bag of blood strapped to Rosalie's IV. She was confused to what he was doing and panickingly glanced Eddie's way, only to suddenly fear for his life as well as he looked like he was dying already, his bruised-looking eyes fluttering.

Dr. Blake moved to look at her and pointed his little flashlight on Rosalie's closed eyes and she moved a little and opened her eyes, mumbling to himself. Rosalie tried, again, to free herself, then looked at the dialysis machine.

"What are you doing to us? Let us go, you bastard!"

Before he could answer, however, screams erupted throughout the ventilation system. What got him curious, however, was that they were not the screams of the Subject being tortured. Those screams were coming from some of his men.

He turned toward those guarding the door. "Take this one back to her cell."

"And him?"

"In the  _chamber_. He'll be  _gone_  soon anyway. And put her in there too— I'm about to conduct a little side-experiment."

—————————————————————

She couldn't remember what happened exactly, even less how she ended up in a pool of blood, the men who had taken her virtue from her laying around— some decapitated, others with their necks bleeding and snapped.

Had she done that?

If she had, she didn't want to believe it. She didn't want to believe she had let them make a monster out of her. Eventually, she broke, letting the tears escape her eyes. There was no denying it. She had been so ashamed of herself, so angry that they had managed to break her that she snapped— she lost control over herself.

_She will be tortured, broken and rebuilt to accept her new role in life; the soul of the Solarii, and the fist of Typhon Assembly, a reformed Al-Qaeda..._

_They've done it_ , she thought as her eyes began to flutter with exhaustion. _They won_...

But they couldn't have. They shouldn't be the winners. They shouldn't be the ones to have the last word.

Ayden how no idea how she was going to do it, but she was going to get her revenge. She would get Endurance crew and the Feral Force out of there, and put an end to the experimentations of the mad scientists if that was the last thing she would do.

That was the last thing flowing through her mind as the world around her went black.

—————————————————————

Rosalie fell with a grunt, glaring back at the men who threw her into her new cell. She was faint, her eyes fluttering with exhaustion that she was vaguely aware of the guard feeling her up. However, she was brought out of her trance-like state by a young male voice snapping at the disgusting man above her.

"Hey, you leave her alone, you jackass."

"You do not order me around,  _крыса_ ,"  **(rat)** the guard hissed.

"You're not gonna do anything either way because your psychotic boss needs us," a young female voice snapped.

The guard huffed and stormed out as Rosalie lifted her head slightly and squinted her eyes, trying to see through her blurry vision who else was there. It was the pair of siblings Ayden had told her about. What were their names? Daren—  _no_. Damian. And... Elena?

The raven-haired girl crawled over. "Hey, are you okay?"

Rosalie acknowledged the girl's concern, but her mind was stuck elsewhere as she began to mumble incoherently— the aftermath of being drained of a lot of blood and being manhandled while trying to escape albeit being drained. "Ed... Ayden..." she mumbled.

She could barely see their eyes widening at the mention of the familiar name.

"You know Ayden?!" the girl almost screamed. "Where is she? Is she okay? Wait— stupid question, of course, she's not—"

Her brother cut her off. "Elena, quit it. The girl's obviously too out of it to answer that." He turned back to the blond, brows furrowed in worry. "What's your name?"

"Ro..."

"Rocky?" Elena tried, though she recoiled with a grimace when she saw the blonde's attempt at glaring at her. "Rosie?" No. "Rosalie?"

The blonde visibly relaxed a bit, making the raven-haired girl smile slightly in triumph for figuring out her name. "Well, I'm Elena," she said softly. "And this is my brother, Damian. We came with our unit to save Ayden, but... as you can see, that kind of backfired. Do you know where she is?"

"No," Rosalie mumbled, tears building up in her eyes. "They.... they... took her... screams... they're... torturing her."

The Russian siblings' jaws clenched simultaneously. Elena crawled forward toward the blonde and grabbed her almost limp hand, holding it gently between her two smaller ones, giving it a small squeeze in a comforting matter.

"We'll find a way out," Damian reassured them. "We'll find Ayden, then we'll leave this shitty hell."

—————————————————————

She was fully clothed once more. Sure, she was back in her ripped and tattered outfit from the shipwreck, though, at that moment in time, being naked or fully clothed had become the least of her worries as she panicked; she was locked inside a massive steel chamber. She had always been slightly claustrophobic— she guessed it had to do with her ADHD, but nothing at that moment could stop her from feeling the building terror she felt.

The interior of the massive steel chamber was cold and desolate with a chilling factor of isolation... it had the overwhelming capacity of thousands of gallons of water, and she had been the unfortunate individual to have somehow been concealed within this seamless prison of misery, along with a man who seemed to have been dead for the past few hours.

With every cry... every movement... even every breath, there was a helpless echo of sound waves ricocheting from the smooth surface within her captivation. She appeared to be located within a perfectly spherical structure— not a single rivet or line of welding, there was only a grated drain at the base's center.

But it did not drain. There was nothing to drain, for the chamber contained absolutely nothing with the exception of its dead prisoner, Ayden, and her deteriorating sanity. She then realized she no longer had any memory of her pre- or current imprisonment time, no estimation of how long she had been isolated, and no logical explanation of how the hell this had happened.

Her name was Ayden... well, at least one of them was.

She was a sixteen-year-old military Captain who'd been held captive for far too long and far too many times in the approximate period of a month, much to her dismay.

"Hello?" Good, she could still talk.

"Is anybody there?" Progress— she could talk more. However, every word and every scream would only remain enclosed within this mysterious chamber. Ayden was wasting her breath.

She pressed her lips against the grated drain, "Somebody, please help!"

But she only received her own answer as a reply whilst hearing the multiplying 'heeelp's echoed down the drain. Her screaming had brought her throat additional pain as it accompanied the unquenched feeling of dryness and burning within the back of her tongue. Her malnutritioned imprisonment had caused her to develop an extremely overpowering desire for water... and that  _other_  substance that seemed to appease the burning in her throat lately. She didn't like the idea of thirsting for it, but she needed more of it, and she doubted feeding of her own would help her.

Suddenly, a rushing sound of flowing liquid had become apparent— it came from the drain and Ayden was confronted with a fountain of water as the grating was doused with the substance that began to fill the chamber. The geyser of water was a yard in length as the vertical structure pelted her in her face— she was uncertain as to whether her thoughts were of relief or trepidation, but her mind had soon become apparent of her current situation: stranded within an enclosed chamber of which contained no lines of communication or means of a possible escape, rapidly filling with water. She began to panic more— the sweat from her ravenous nervousness was matched only by the icy water of which soaked her head with its freezing ripples a few inches above her ankles.

Ayden desperately looked around as she gasped. Her mentality primarily recalling what was considered one of the worst ways to die... drown—

 _No. Shut the fuck up_. And for one minuscule segment of time, Ayden felt a brief feeling of redemption as she believed in hope and faith and all of that bullshit.

There was absolutely nothing of which may have revealed an escape except for the drain, the grilled gateway of the water and its flowing impact of freezing misery. Ayden obeyed her instincts and intuition as she strategically knelt with her face in avoidance of the water and gripped the metal grill of the drain.

But Ayden neglected to actually think— the grill was bolted to the steel and reinforced with a taunting mock of captivity; it was perhaps thirty-six square inches, and her waistline alone was thirty. And the water— it still continued to pump into the chamber, probably with enough force to refrain any possibility to journey in its opposing direction.

But if she had successfully detached the grill... if she had managed to force her physicality into the drain of damnation... if she had a miraculous alliance with gravity to progress down the drain and against the water...

Her wishful thinking could only migrate through the skies of hope and faith for so long. Logically, the entire drain would have already been filled with the water, and Ayden would be forced into a stationary confinement as the narrowed drain disallowed her chest of expansion. But it's not like she needed to breathe— she would have already drowned.

Ayden was thinking too far ahead— she hadn't even removed the grill. She neglected to actually think if she had thought the situation through with a mere morsel of common sense of which a fraction of her brain had acquired over the years... if she actually stopped to think... she would have realized that, no matter what, she was screwed.

Ayden encased the metal grill within her slippery palms and wrapped her fingers around the circumference of the bars— her hands were excessively soaked and doused within the elevating water as she pulled. She strained her arms and used her legs to lever herself against the grill's force of concealment as her hands began to freeze within the water.

The flesh and muscle in existence down from her knees and elbows were stinging with a chronic prickle of pain... it was miraculous that the water was not frozen solid. She literally could not feel anything— she was too cold... she only knew that the grill was within her grasp due to her vision. Although her vision was blurred from the splashing in addition to the two feet of water that rippled and bubbled above the drain, she could still recognize her two hands. They were pathetically attempting to pry off the grill.

And inches beneath the drain of the grill, there were several blades of emerging sharpness as the edges mechanically revolved around threatening rotaries. They had perhaps revealed themselves from outside the walls of the drain; perhaps an elaborate system of electronics allowed their operation; perhaps there was more within this chamber than just a drain.

But Ayden was unaware of these possibilities and was unaware when her fingers began to be ravaged by these blades. The robotic actions situated its medieval weaponry against the grill and upon Ayden's tightly clutched hands. The water was a hindrance, but the rotations remained forceful and aerodynamic enough to slash through the thin and wrinkled flesh of her fingers.

The awkward positioning of her hands resulted in uneven cuts and gashes amongst multiple degrees, but Ayden didn't feel a damn thing. Her hands were frozen with unresponsive nerves, and the realization only became apparent when she witnessed an expanding cloud of red emerging in unison with the flowing water.

Ayden released the grill immediately— she stumbled back and became submerged into the freezing water as she splashed with panic and confusion. There was blood spewing from her hands and leaving twirling threads of red within the rushing water. Ayden was still unable to feel the damage upon her hands, and she did not want to look, but she couldn't help herself when she felt each cut slowly closing. The scars left behind— they looked horrible, but they only brought anger to her system rather than horror. She was mad they had done this to her— no; she was mad she let them do this to her.

And then she saw something— it appeared to be blue and pink and drenched in blood as it floated in the water. It looked like a sausage...like a finger...and now Ayden forced herself to observe her hands with horror, only slightly relieved when she saw nothing missing.

_"You can do it! Come on! I'm over here! Swim towards me. You're almost there! Keep going! Don't give up! Keep fighting!"_

_You bet I will_ , she thought, her jaw clenching with anger.

She squinted her eyes and forced herself to see through her blurry vision as she glanced around for another exit. Squinting a bit more, she found it— a metal door was camouflaged perfectly as part of the hideous gray wall. Forcing strength into her legs, she pushed herself away from the grill of death and splashed her way over to the hidden metal door at the other end of the chamber. She clenched her jaw, taking a few quick deep breaths before bringing her hand back, then letting it snap forward into the door. It hurt. The pain wasn't just a pinch— it was indescribable, especially since her hand was already hurt; it got worse as the pain spread up her arm, but she couldn't give up. Not now. She punched at the metal door again and again till a loud, ear-piercing creaking noise emitted out of it and a ray of dim light pierced its way into the room.

_Yes!_

She punched and kicked at the door until, finally, it broke open, with a loud exploding sound, and the neck-deep water flushed her out into a dimly lit hallway. She laid there, the water washing away, dispersing on the stone floor, and she closed her eyes for a moment as she relaxed a bit. However unfortunate for her, when she tried to reopen them, they did not, until a long while later. When she woke up, she was as disoriented as could be expected. She tried to register her surroundings as she then began to hear someone humming a funeral march.

 _Gee, how encouraging_ , she thought bitterly.

She tried to move, but then realized she was strapped down,  _again_ , onto a metal table, her arms tied to her sides, making her unable to move at all. She continued her attempts at breaking her constraints but stopped without any success. Her head exhaustively slammed back onto the table; they had sedated her again, weakening her every move.

"... the hell?" she mumbled, struggling against the restraints again.  _First I'm tortured, then I'm raped, and then I'm drowning— now what?_

She lifted her head the most she could and glanced around, her jaw tightening when she saw Dr. Blake there, touching a big bag of blood strapped to an IV.

 _What are you doing to me now?_  she wondered as her eyes tiredly fluttered shut.

"4.1 pints drained," Blake mumbled to himself. He moved to look at Ayden and pointed his little flashlight on her closed eyes and she moved a little and opened her eyes. "07805 still shows signs of consciousness. Note that five years ago Subject 23255 faded into unconsciousness after losing 2.9 pints." Ayden tried to free herself again but managed no success. She then looked at the dialysis machine and frowned. "Evolution or luck? A mystery for another day."

"You've tortured me enough— what are you doing to me now? What are these tubes? Let me go!"

Dr. Blake rolled his eyes as he opened a curtain, then approached a little table and wrote some notes down. "Relax. I plan to once I'm through with you."

"Someone's gonna find me."

He turned to face her with a smirk. "Your heroic unit full of kids?" he mused, punching some buttons on the machine. "Yeah, I'd like to see them find you from their cages. Did you know my brother spent his entire life thinking our family was haunted by some death curse?"

She glared at him. "Let me guess, that curse was you? I'll bet my life you systematically killed every member of your family including your brother, whom I'm sure was the man you had locked up in that chamber with me."

He rolled her eyes. "And you— sixteen-year-old soldier who's killed since the age of fifteen without remorse. I'm curious. How does one justify that in your mind?"

Ayden mentally scoffed; so now he knows her actual age? Unbelievable... "And this, holding people against their will, torturing them? How do you justify that?"

"Science."

"Really, now? 'Cause that sounds more like psychotic." She clenched her jaw as she looked at him with steely eyes. "What are you planning, Blake? Planning on turning me into a monster like you? 'Cause, honestly, I don't think anyone apart from Clayton could compete with you. Then again, he's dead now."

He opened a journal and looked into it. "You know your boyfriend?" She huffed in irritation. "After enduring two thousand volts of electricity, he continues to have a heartbeat. Your besties? A thousand. You? After four thousand, torture, sexual intercourse—"

She let out a dry laugh full of disbelief. "Sexual intercourse, seriously, dude? What went down is called 'rape', dipshit," she snapped.

But the man only went on as though she had not spoken. "— which only demonstrated you were sterilized— your heart still beats. Granted, it beats faster than the regular heartbeat of a human, but it's still beating."

Her jaw clenched even tighter as her glare wavered slightly, her eyes beginning to water. "You're a monster," she growled. "Have you no conscience at all?"

He shrugged. "You insulting me won't make me cry, if that's what you're trying to accomplish."

"What are  _you_  trying to accomplish, Blake?" she demanded, fury blazing through her eyes.

He smiled, and it made her sick to her stomach. "I'm going to make the world's dream come true. First, invincible superhuman— I'm going to make you invincible, doe eyes."

Everything happened so fast; he didn't have time to register what did happen. His mind only finally registered what was when he found himself being pushed roughly against the wall at the other side of the room. His heart beat erratically— this wasn't supposed to happen; she wasn't supposed to recover so quickly.

He braced himself, suddenly alert and internally panicking as she stood before him, one arm holding him up against the wall, where his feet were dangling in the air, while she glared down at the floor, her tangled curls hiding her face.

"First of all." Her voice had a hoarse edge to it as she spoke. "Do _not_ call me that. Second of all, I'm a soldier, and my job is to follow orders," she said, gravely. "But in no way will I ever let there be strings on me. Especially not strings held by people like you."

Slowly, she began to lift her free hand up, reaching toward his right arm.

"I'm not invincible," she continued, her voice deadly quiet. "And I know for a fact that I'll never be, so you can shove the 'world's dream' up your fuckin' filthy ass, you crazy bastard."

And she ripped his arm off, making him let out a painful scream, loud enough to burst one's eardrums. But she wasn't done.

"I'd kill you, but death would be too kind," she all but purred as she looked up at him.

If it hadn't been for his current position, he would've been just fascinated; the sclera of her eyes had turned blood-red, dark veins had appeared under them, and her canine teeth had extended into razor-sharp fangs. Before he could even react, her fangs pierced through the skin of his neck, her bloodied free hand resting on his chest as she drank until she almost drained him. Then, she dropped him onto the ground, letting him scramble in pain.

"I'll never be invincible." She crouched in front of him. "But congratulations, Doctor— you've turned me into a monster. May God curse you," she sneered venomously before standing back up, spinning on her heels and heading toward the door. She suddenly came to a halt and recoiled slightly for a moment when she came upon a mirror and looked at her demonic face.

"Holy shit," she muttered.

She squinted her devil eyes, sighing in slight relief though grimacing all the same when her face morphed back to normal, her eyes going back to being tricolor. She then lifted the bottom of her shirt and wiped her bloodied mouth with it before going back toward the only exit, leaving the literally torn scientist to hopefully drown in his own pond of blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.wattpad.com/268328871-infinite-marvel-fan-fiction-prequel-bloody-ponds  
> https://www.quotev.com/story/9841840/Infinite-Marvel-fan-fiction-Prequel/9


	10. Sacrifice is a choice you make...

The cell burst open, the barred metal door clattering onto the ground. The Shostakovitch siblings looked up in surprise and felt their eyes widen when they caught sight of the ruined state their Captain was in. She stood there, brown curls tangled and disheveled, pants and shirt ripped and covered in blood, her skin freshly scarred, bruised, cut and covered in dirt and blood. Her small pouch, which was attached to her belt loop beside a walkie-talkie, was surprisingly the only thing still intact and looked rather heavier and more full than what they recalled, and she had a bow and a quiver full of arrows slung over her shoulder.

She looked around the cell before finally settling her gaze upon them, face unreadable as she stepped inside. She handed them each a handgun, then walked over to the unconscious blonde and leaned down, placing a slightly bony finger to the side of her neck, searching for a pulse.

"She's just fainted," Elena said softly.

Ayden did not reply as she focused solely on the blonde. She furrowed her brows as a strange feeling took over her whole being within seconds; it was almost as though she had literally gained a physically empathetic perception. One touch to Rosalie's throat confirmed the strength of her pulse, and that touch also let Ayden's enhanced perception flow through the whole body of her new friend. The blonde's breathing was strong and regular, and no bones were broken; she had but a mere concussion and a bit of blood loss, no more.

_She must've healed from the rest already..._

Pulling her hand away from Rosalie's throat, she shifted slightly, balancing herself on her heels, then hoisted the limp body over her shoulder.

"Come on," she muttered. "We're getting out of here."

They got to their feet and followed her out without hesitation. Elena did not know what to think when they stepped into the hallway. It was dark as most lights had died out, and others were just dysfunctional flickering, but the blood stains on the walls were perfectly clear. Where did all the blood come from? Where were the bodies— why wasn't Ayden making some witty, disgusted remark as she usually would at a scene like this?

"Don't panic," Ayden suddenly said lowly.

It was then that Elena realized she had started hyperventilating a bit. How did Ayden know? She hadn't even spared her a glance since they'd left the cell.

"Just keep walking," added Ayden.

Damian felt sick to his stomach at the sight before them, even more so when they reached the end of the hallway and caught sight of a ripped leg on the floor.

"Whoops," Ayden muttered, kicking it towards the shadows before turning towards the right, leading down another hallway.

She stopped for a moment when she caught sight of an extinguished torch laying on the ground, pushed her foot under it, then, hacky-sack style; she kicked it up into her left hand. She walked over to a flickering lantern on the wall, then smashed it with the burnt side of the torch, igniting it.

"Do you know where you're going?" Damian quietly asked as they resumed their walk. She did not reply. "We could be heading towards more of them, for all we know."

No response.

Suddenly, as they neared the end of the hallway, Ayden stopped again. She handed the torch to Elena, then crouched down to gently place Rosalie on the ground.

"The exit is just around this corner," she said, shifting the unconscious girl into a sitting position. "Wait here, for a sec; I'll be right back." Both siblings simultaneously opened their mouths to protest, but she turned and gave them a hard look. "That's an order."

And with that, she got up and went ahead, rounding the corner where, a few feet ahead, stood a closed wooden door. Taking a deep breath, she stalked toward it, bringing an arrow out of her quiver in the process. Once she reached the door, she pressed her ear against it, even though she didn't really need to.

" _It's gotten pretty quiet, don't you think?_ "

" _Yeah, but I'm not complaining. Although I would like to hear that girl scream again— God! She felt so good._ "

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she continued to listen, her grip subconsciously tightening around the arrow.

" _Do you think Doc will let us have another go?_ "

Pause. " _Eh, probably not. He's got a long list of sciency shit he wants to try on her._ "

She didn't know what had gotten into her, but as soon as he said that, she found herself sniffing the air.

Sigh. " _God, I'm getting hard just thinking how tight—_ "

_Snap._

The arrow snapped in her hand. She smelled them— she smelled herself on them.

" _Pinche wey..._ "  **(fuckin' dude...)**  she muttered under breath.

They were one of the first men to have ripped her from her virtue.

"Hey! Did you hear that?"

She heard them being to scramble about, but she did not wait any longer as anger rose inside of her once more. She grabbed another arrow from her quiver then, without waiting for another second, she kicked the door open and stabbed the first man she found herself standing in front of with the arrow, then snapped his neck before pulling the bolt out, letting his body fall, limp, onto the ground. She then turned to the other one who was panickingly trying to reload his pistol and felt her face shift as a cold smirk grew on her face.

She tilted her head to a side, her smirk never wavering as she stepped right in front of him, staring at the stubbled man with her devil eyes.

"I hope you're hard enough for this," she purred.

And then she stabbed the bloody arrow into his own heart before piercing her fangs into his throat, her free hand going to the back of his neck to keep him from moving as she drank until she drained him. Then, she dropped him onto the ground, still holding onto the arrow as she did so, causing it to rip from his chest, splattering more blood on her.

" _Ahora estoy llena_ ,"  **(Now I'm full)**  she said softly as she stared at the dead men for a moment, breathing hard.

After a few seconds passed, and she finally came down of the high, she placed the bloody arrow back into her quiver before glancing around. She let out a humorless chuckle as she found familiarity in the cliff nearby; it reminded her of the one she'd been knocked out on. She rid the two dead men their still somewhat intact jackets before grabbing them by the collar of their shirts and dragging them toward the cliff, throwing them off it, knowing they would land on the others she had killed before she'd been captured... well if their corpses were still there.

She took a deep breath and concentrated on her face she was sure still looked demonic and waited a few seconds for it to go back to normal. However, she grew distracted by a faint rustling coming from the trees.

She sighed, annoyed, and tilted her head back to see a man in his late twenties pointing his pistol at her with trembling hands.

"You're brave to face me after what you just saw me do; I'll give you that," she spoke in a dark tone.

She turned and walked over to him, practically strutting, her battered look giving her the appearance of a devilish warrior angel. She stood in front of him and gently pried the gun from his hands.

"You won't kill me," she said.

He scrambled to grab a knife from his belt, though as soon as it was within her sight, it was out of his hand and stabbed into a tree, and he was thrown against another. He had never felt such pain as thus he was currently going through as she threw him from one tree to another and damaged one of his knees along the way to the worst.

He laid on the ground after what felt like forever, his eyes shut in anticipation. He slowly opened them when nothing came and gasped in fear when he found himself staring into a pair of blood-red eyes.

"I'd kill you, but since you didn't _actually_ try to kill me, or at least try hard enough, I'll let you run back to that little demented cult of yours. Let 'em know what's comin'."

With that said, she headed back inside the building, with the two jackets, after morphing back into her human mask. She threw the Shostakovitch siblings each a jacket before hoisting Rosalie over her shoulder once more.

"Come on," she said. "The coast is clear."

It was a relief when Rosalie had finally woken up. However, she was still too weak to walk on her own as she wasn't used to going through torture of any sort. For Ayden, though she was glad the four of them could walk now without much support needed, she found it to be harder than she thought, having to lead three others through the deadly jungle. Since Elena and Rosalie weren't used to this kind of stuff— Rosalie being but an archaeologist in training, and Elena for having a body too young to endure such expedition— Ayden had to hoist them, one by one, onto her back to get across some gaps and other difficult obstacles. Thankfully, she had to do no such thing with Damian.

To say they felt bad for letting her do most of the work was an understatement, especially when they could see she was clearly exhausted even though she hid it rather well. However, there was no pulling her away from her ways. She was stubborn, and they knew her well enough to know such, so they let her be whenever she made a decision and followed her orders, retraining themselves from questioning any thought running through her head; she was like an overly dedicated student studying for an exam that would determine their life career.

Unfortunately for their curious minds, they could not find out what was going on in her head as even her facial expression remained hard to read, especially through her short conversations with Roth.

"Ayden, I think it'll be best if you rest."

"If we keep taking breaks we'll never get off this godforsaken island," she grumbled.

Yamatai was her original intention when she joined the expedition. She had sought this place. Not this way, of course, but she had pushed them. She had pushed and pleaded and insisted. Well... she mainly did so because she wanted to get the whole thing done and over with. And now they were stuck there, and it was all her fault. She'd had a feeling something bad could happen, and now it did because she convinced them to go on with their plans. She added a few twists and tweaks to better their strategies and such, but that only straightened their path to hell. The boat kept going long after what made sense, long after what was typical. Maybe even a little past what was safe. Whitman was determined, his creditors and many others were practically hounding him. Sam was totally devoted to Ayden, arguing her case every night, long after the decision was made. And Roth...

_Find Roth! He will know what to do. Roth will get you all out of there. Just keep moving!_

But even as Roth quietly told her it was getting too dangerous to keep going, and how supplies were running low, Ayden hadn't been worried.

What was the worst that could happen?

She had thought to find the island, land and spend a few days unearthing its mysteries, retreating every night to her lent tent, maybe catch a fish or two for her dinner before turning in for the night, falling asleep listening to old sixties songs from the small radio...

She hadn't found this nether island. It had found her. Its jaws had leaped up from the merciless ocean to rip the  _Endurance_  and her dear, dear compatriots from the Feral Force apart and devour them all whole.

The Isle of Yamatai had been a place of many mysteries, all of which would chew her up and spit out the bones. Everything that moved on the damned rock was trying to kill everything else. It was like that Predator movie. If the monstrous Predator didn't kill the humans, they would go crazy and kill each other either way.

She had known the nature of the food chain from second grade. She had known about First Aid and the priorities of shelter or water or food or clothing from the extra course she had taken in college.

She had known of pagan rites. The human sacrifices of many cultures.

Days already spent on Yamatai, she realized she didn't know anything; she learned all about the Western civilization, but not further than west.

The Island had beaten the civilization out of her and reduced her to raw survival force. But her mind was still sharp as it ever was, soaked in adrenaline, a desperate cling at her humanity, and with the stakes raised to a matter of life and horrifying death.

Her inner self and body slightly calm from listening to the heartbeats of the three sleeping figures behind her, she folded herself into a ball, clutching at her bow, just waiting for the sun to rise.

She stretched her hearing further from their perimeters and closed her eyes momentarily as she listened to the patrols of madmen and fanatics creeping a few thirty trees away, not knowing their targets were closer than they believed. Eyes snapping open, she made sure Elena, Damian, and Rosalie were well enough hidden from sight before silently running off to get a closer look.

She ran through the trees, then climbed the last one that was near enough she could see her enemies, but far enough they wouldn't see her. Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she stared down at them, bow at the ready.

Her gaze was so intent that the men were beginning to fidget, though they knew not where the predatory gaze was coming from. She had watched the hawks with their razor sharp eyes picking out meals from the long grass. She had watched the prey animals sit up with sudden alertness, survival instincts of their own telling them when they were in danger.

She thought she knew ancient cultures and languages, but then she found out so much more.

She learned that gods and ancient powers were totemic. They all had different names for their Gods, but they all worshiped the storms, the predators, the sun, the moon... The same story of the Lost Souls painted over and over again in their tortured hand. She learned the differences between carefully written letters of various languages in a textbook, and the wild, desperate graffiti clawed on the walls, begging for someone to hear their message. She learned the rise and fall of empires from the leftovers that the Island had not deigned to crush into pulp.

The message was the same, written over and over, language after language, culture after culture, century after century...

_NO ONE LEAVES!_

She had thought she knew agility from the stealth training at the camp. She thought she knew how to run, how to dodge around obstacles, walk a balance beam, and clear hurdles.

She was wrong.

Yamatai had taught her how to run, really run, as her life truly depended on it. Yamatai had taught her how to get around obstacles, and to avoid being knocked down without slowing even a little bit. Yamatai had taught her how to scamper along a tiny ledge or climb a wall of sheer stone and ice.

Ayden didn't weep for it any longer. She soaked herself in it, devoured everything she saw and heard. She had the mind of an honor student, and this deadly, dangerous education would mean her life. She had the energy of the place now. The hungry savagery of predator and prey, the dance of strike and escape. She knew when to attack, and when to defend. She knew sight lines and taking cover.

And for all that, she was still running. Yamatai had taught her how to survive hell on earth, but not how to claim a place in it. She thought she knew what she was capable of. She thought she knew her limits. Every hour that passed taught her differently.

_Find Roth! Just keep moving!_

The days were long and cold. The nights were worse, but she was learning. These were lessons she'd never thought to learn. Lessons that she could not learn any other way. A thousand lessons in things that only Yamatai could teach her.

_You have to rest, Ayden..._

She groaned, then dropped from the tree and hurried back to the trio. Once she reached them, she settled in a corner, brought out her radio and turned it on, letting it play some twentieth-century music. She sighed as a Marilyn Monroe song began to play. Don't get her wrong, she loved music from that century, and she loved that singer, but at the moment she wanted something more... familiar.

She pressed a few buttons, switching the radio station and a small nostalgic smile made its way onto her chapped plump lips as a familiar song reached her ears.

_Ya no estas mas a mi lado corazón..._

She closed her eyes and leaned her back against a tree, hugging her knees to her chest.

_En el alma sólo tengo soledad... y si ya no puedo verte, por qué Dios me hizo quererte para hacerme sufrir mas..._

"Siempre fuiste la razón de mi existir," she began to whisper the words as the song soared on.

 _Adorarte para mi fue religión_ _;_ _en tus besos yo encontraba el calor que me brindaba, el amor y la pasión..._

She did not open her eyes when a tear escaped her closed lids nor when she heard a faint rustling behind her as she knew who had woken up. She simply sighed and continued to whisper the words of the song.

" _Es la historia de un amor como no hay otro igual... que me hizo comprender todo el bien, todo el mal... que le dio luz a mi vida... apagándola después... hay que vida tan obscura... sin tu amor no viviré..._ "

"That's a nice song," Elena said softly.

"Known it since before I even knew how to speak," Ayden replied in a mumble. She opened her eyes and looked up at the tar-black sky as another tear fell from her eye. "It was my mom's favorite."

Elena blinked in surprise; there was a lot Ayden had told her about herself. It was always somewhat vague, but it was still a lot. Never, however, had she ever spoken of her mother, brother, nor really anyone in her family. Elena couldn't help but wonder what this island was doing to her.

"Sleep," Ayden spoke a slightly bit louder, though her tone remained soft, voice slightly raspy from the many days spent screaming in pain.

"You should too," said Elena as she laid back down, eyes never leaving her Captain's back.

Ayden sighed, shaking her head to herself. "I can't," she muttered before sighing once more. "Sleep; we're leaving at dawn."

Elena sighed and closed her eyes, knowing better than to argue with the stubborn girl.

When she was sure the young Russian girl was asleep once again, she clasped her hands together and shut her eyes, tilting her head upward.

It was strange; she hadn't done that in a long time.

Pray.

Ayden had never considered herself very religious. She was a believer, but, at this point, she didn't know what to believe in anymore as everything she had ever believed in always seemed to disappoint her in the end. That's why she always preferred to believe in what she read and learned in school because those things were more than often accurate.

In her high school days, she had studied endless forms of worship to one god or another. The Ancient Cultures were wrapped in their adoration of the same things— the Sun, the Moon... they worshiped all sorts of animals all the way to planets and stars. As part of her studies in school, she had traced the origins of many religious cultures. Plenty of cults and pagan rites were off-shoots and derivatives of the cultures that came before them. But what each and every definition of faith came down to was a good-for-nothing mortal, begging for compassion from forces beyond their comprehension.

Her grandmother had told her that every myth had its root in at least one truth, one fact. Ayden had believed her and told herself that if she wanted to understand the truths of the universe, she had to start with that one unimpeachable fact.

When she joined the crew that saved her life, her goal for when she reached the island with them was to simply understand. Simply learn something more. It was a search for fact... but she had found something far beyond the usual thrill she sought.

Now she found herself praying for rescue once more, praying for help... Of course, she expected no answer. She had never really thought much about the Supernatural, though she knew people that did. But she had no respect for people who ignored God until they needed a magic wand to rescue them.

The ones that came before her on the island had a thousand different names for gods and goddesses. Mathias had bent a whole island of lunatics to his manic needs by invoking the names of Ancient Queens.

One thing that Ayden had discovered was that the ones that got anything out of any faith, even as all others turned jaded around them... The true believers all had the same quality. They asked to understand before they asked for help.

Ayden wanted neither. She only sought escape. If not for herself, then at least a safe root for her companions.

Each religion had its soothsayers. Even Mathias claimed to know exactly what to do. Prophecy was the point of any cult, any faith. Ayden had been fascinated with the story of the Oracle of Delphi, but she never really believed the future could be foretold. It was a position that seemed justified when she got through to the rescue choppers. Warnings from lunatics and cultists didn't add up.

She controlled her own destiny.

_Crack!_

She snapped out of her thoughts and jumped to her feet, killing the intruder within less than five seconds.

Her face showed no emotion at all as she looked up from the dead man to the trio who stared back at her in shock. Pulling her knife out of the man's neck, she straightened and grabbed the blown torch she'd taken with her from the building they'd been experimented at.

"This is why I didn't want to stop," she said as she built a small fire to light up the torch. "I hope you've rested enough because that's all you'll get for a while. We need to find Roth."

"Up the mountain?" Rosalie asked.

"The only way to Roth," confirmed the young captain. "We should go now; if we stay any longer, those guys will find us. And if they don't, the wolves will."

"Right."

No other word was said after that. They put their stolen jackets back on properly, picked up their weapons and followed Ayden deeper into the wood. The trip was silent for a long moment before suddenly, Elena broke it, deciding to play 'twenty questions' with them, mostly to keep herself awake. She and her brother conversed with the blonde archaeologist in training, all three unaware that the girl leading the way was recording them in her radio.

"Ayden!"

The girl stopped walking and instantly tensed when she realized she'd been about to draw one of her weapons from being startled. Damian noticed too, though he made no comment about it, merely taking a mental note.

Taking a deep breath, Ayden craned her neck to look at Elena from the corner of her eye.

"What?"

Elena frowned slightly. "I was talking to  _you_."

"Really now?" Ayden's voice was faint and distant. "What did you say?"

"I asked you a question."

Ayden turned fully around and looked at Elena for a long moment, face unreadable. Suddenly, her eyes softened, and her body relaxed a bit.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I didn't mean to stray." Elena blinked, taken aback by the girl's unusual behavior. "What is it that you wanted to know?"

"Uh... nothing important really," said Elena in a sheepish tone as they resumed walking. "Was just wondering.... can you tell us something about you no one knows?"

Had they been cartoons, Ayden would've collapsed to the ground in shock and surprise at the question.

 _I'm a vampiric super soldier_ , she thought.  _Technically no one knows that anymore since those who did are dead now..._

Of course, she didn't say that, though. She wasn't that stupid.

She thought for a moment, their feet stomping softly against the dirt path being the only sound that had settled upon them.

"I have mixed origins... Mexican mom, Haitian dad, Spanish and Portuguese maternal grandparents, and half French and half Haitian, and Japanese paternal grandparents. I'm not  _really_  Canadian; I was born in the US... like my brother." She paused. "Oh, and my brother's really my half-brother."

The blonde and the siblings were left too stunned to speak after that was said and simply followed her as she silently led the way, neither of them finding it in themselves to break the silence again.

This already painful night was going to be a long one...

—————————————————————

She was glad to see them again; there was no denying that, but the reunion was only slowing her down, almost as much as keeping an eye on the trio following her was. So, she did what she thought would be best; she made them go with Reyes and the others, much to their dismay. They knew she was strong and could look after herself, but after everything that had happened with Dr. Blake, they didn't want to leave her alone. The rest of the _Endurance_ crew could understand why— her change of character was more than showing that. But, if there was one thing that hadn't changed about her, it was her stubbornness, they discovered as, soon, she stalked away from them, an ever so determined look on her face.

A few minutes away, Ayden found herself running back to the crew, hoping desperately to find them before Mathias' people did, the warnings crystallized into prophecy in her mind. She knew this journey was changing her. She had already lost so much of herself to the island, and to Clayton before then. One by one, the aspects of her personality had been smacked out of her, and she almost felt like a simple marionette being pushed and pulled, back and forth, by the world. But something she hadn't expected to lose was her skepticism. She hadn't expected to become, anew, the believer she had once been. She had lost faith long ago, but now it was returning. Perhaps it was the island's doing, what with its inexplicable storms and typhoons conjured from nothing before her eyes. What with the seemingly angry wind that tried to gust her off the face of a mountain...

She stopped.

Faith.

She needed to have more faith in the crew— they had survived so far without her help; they could take care of themselves. Roth— he was the one she needed to find, and soon.

Turning back on her heels for what felt like the hundredth time, she resumed running in her previous direction, only stopping when she came upon a rather familiar ladder.

Her breathing hitched as the realization hit her; this was where she'd been taken from the last time she'd been abducted.

She climbed back up, jaw clenched as she kept herself alert. After reaching the area above the rope ladder, but before moving ahead, she took a little detour where she found a rather ancient-looking staircase. Below and to the left of it, leading up a hill alongside a building, there was a white ledge overlooking a stream. Biting her lip, hesitating for a moment, Ayden finally stepped forward and dropped down, waded across the stream and carefully made her way through a narrow crack in the rock wall into a cave, where she surprisingly found a treasure map for this area. There was also a salvage net, but she knew there was no way she could use it because there was no way to light her torch in there.

Grabbing the map, she turned back and returned through the crack in the rocks to the main area and climbed the wooden wall to get back to the area at the top of the ladder. Turning her back to the cliff, she rushed forward, scrambling up the wooden wall on the right to get into the building itself, where she found more arrows. Around the east back side of the building, she found some food, more arrows, and a previously inhabited base camp.

She had no idea for how long she'd been running for, but now that she stopped she could feel her exhaustion wearing her down again, so she decided to sit down and rest for a while. After counting eighteen hundred seconds, she was once more on her way.

Crossing the wooden bridge ahead, she slowly started up the steps. As she neared the top, she came to a stop when the smell of men caught her nostrils. Bringing out her bow and an arrow, she aimed steadily then shot her arrow into walls to distract the nearby enemies. She felt the pride of knowing she'd made the right decision when she saw her shot alerting the two men on the other side of the low wall. For a while, she stayed in her cover and shot another arrow at the wall a little to the right of the two guys.

The man on the right then turned around to look where the shot had come from. While he was busy, Ayden quickly took out the one on the left with a quick headshot before killing the guy on the right before he realized what was happening. Just as she was about to shoot another one, a shot intercepted her, hitting her next target.

Eyes widening slightly in surprise, she grabbed another arrow and spun around, pointing it in the direction the shot came from, only to find herself face to face with Elena. Jaw clenching, she yanked the younger soldier by the arm and almost threw her against the wall, eyed narrowed into the most ferocious glare she could muster.

"What the hell are you doing here, Shostakovitch?" she demanded.

Elena's heart dropped. "Last name? Ah, gee— I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

"Damn right, you're in trouble! What the hell were you thinking?" Ayden all but hissed at her.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe how my best friend could die out here if she doesn't have anyone to cov—"

"I don't need your help."

"Uh, yeah, you do," Elena argued. "You just don't like to admit it. You never do."

The look in Ayden's eyes darkened. "Don't talk like you know me, Shostakovitch. You don't know anything."

Elena clenched her jaw and looked at her captain intently. "I'll have you know that I know a lot more than you could possibly imagine. You know why? Because as your best friend, I—"

"We are not best friends, Elena!" Ayden growled.

Elena fought back her tears with a glare of her own; why was Ayden talking like that?

"If we weren't, you wouldn't have helped rescue my brother. You wouldn't have jumped off a plane for me, or taken a bullet for Damian. You wouldn't have taken and endured all that torture for us, but you did. If we weren't best friends, I wouldn't be here, but I am, so suck it up, Jaubert, and accept things as they are. For once, stop pushing people away— stop pushing _me_ away."

Ayden stared at her for a good long moment, dark eyes gazing intently into her before she slowly released her. "Were you followed?"

Elena blinked back her surprise as she shook her head.

"Damian and Rosalie, where are they?"

"I left them with the others; they're still looking for our unit and that girl you were talking about."

Ayden looked down at her and eyed her pistols. "Still got any ammo?"

"Got enough."

"Then shut up and follow my lead."

Then, without exchanging further words, Elena and Ayden continued to shoot at the men from their hiding spot.

It went on like that for a while, the girls hiding in the shadows while shooting at the men before they even got the chance to see them. After basically having massacred all of Mathias' men in the Mountain Temple, Ayden came upon a narrow cliff, Elena following close behind. They managed to climb to the top, where they finally found Roth, a good half-yard away, trying to fend off a pack of wolves with his handgun.

"Argh! Get back!" Roth yelled at the wolves, "Go on! Get out of here! Go on!"

Reacting instantly, Ayden snatched the handgun from Elena's grasp and aimed it at the wolves, shooting them one by one, mercilessly, before pushing herself off the ladder and onto the solid ground.

"Roth?! Roth, I'm coming!" she said as she then ran towards him, dropping the handgun as Roth collapsed. When Ayden reached him, she saw the bad wound on his leg and instantly felt guilty for not coming sooner. "Thank God you're alive." She sighed in relief as she knelt beside him and helped him lean against a rock.

"That God's got nothing to do with it," Roth replied with a grimace. Then he looked at her and smiled. "You don't know how much I'm glad to see you."

"Well, you better be," Elena huffed as she walked up toward them, picking up her handgun from the ground. "We came a long way."

Ayden rolled her eyes at the Russian girl, then sighed. "Roth, this idiot girl is Elena. Lena—" Elena's eyes lit up at the sound of her nickname. "— this is Roth."

"Nice to meet you, sir."

Roth nodded tiredly. "Likewise. I've heard a lot about you."

Elena smiled. "All good things, I hope."

"Introductions aside," Ayden cut in as she inspected Roth's wound. "Ah, man— they did a real number on your leg."

"Nah... looks worse than it is," Roth replied.

"Have you heard from any of the others?" Ayden asked. "My radio's been bugging a lot, so I haven't got a signal since I left them."

Roth shook his head. "Nothing," he replied. He then tried to stand up.

"Whoa— what are you doing?" Ayden exclaimed.

"The wolves took my food pack. The transmitter from the lifeboat's in it. If we don't get that back, we're not getting off this bloody island."

"But that's not what you need right now. You need... you need bandages, morphine, antiseptics—"

Roth cut her off with a sigh. "Also in the pack."

"Ah, shit," Ayden grunted, as she looked desperately at the night sky as though it would give her the answer she sought.

"Exactly," said Roth, looking down for a moment, before he moved again, trying to get up and walk.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?!" Ayden demanded.

"I have to recover my pack," the old marine tried to insist in a firm tone, but his voice came out strangely weak.

Suddenly, he groaned in pain, and the girls watched as his body went to fall straight to the floor, though Ayden caught him quickly before he could hit the ground. After shifting his weight a bit in her arms, Ayden pulled Roth to one side and gently laid him on the ground in a way that he was laying, but also slightly sitting.

Without looking up at Elena, she spoke quietly. "Keep an eye on him; I'll be right back."

Her tone, as per usual, left no place for an argument. Elena, however, didn't even try to argue as she knew it would be pointless. She stared off at Ayden's retreating form for a moment before looking over at Roth, searching for any more injuries.

—————————————————————

The _Endurance_ crew scattered slightly as they reached a cave to take shelter in. While a pair went ahead to gather some wood, Damian remained on edge, avoiding everyone and anyone's gaze, his own shifting rapidly from one place to another, worry etched onto his dulled blue eyes.

"If she doesn't die, I'm gonna kill her myself," Damian grumbled to himself as he plopped himself down on the ground, his spot farther away from the rest of the group he'd found himself stuck with.

"She's gonna be fine," Rosalie reassured him as she went to sit beside him and leaned her back against the tree. "I mean... she's with Ayden, what could go wrong?"

Damian shot her a glare. "I don't know if you noticed, _Rosalie_." She bit her tongue, not liking the way he spat out her name. "But a lot of things have gone wrong on this island."

"Gee, I can see why Ayden doesn't like you," she snapped. "You're either a cocky little ass or a downright jerk." Her hard look turned into a glare that could win over his if they ever did a contest. "And, I don't know if you've forgotten, _Grayson_." His jaw clenched as she called him by his first name. "But I was also held prisoner and experimented on, so chill your manhood; this isn't a macho-men contest, I was just trying to be nice."

Damian's expression softened slightly at her last words as he let out a sigh and leaned his back against the tree as well, his eyes shutting for a moment before looking up at the sky, which was hidden behind the thick leaves of the tall trees. "I'm sorry, I'm just..."

"Afraid for your sister and the girl you're madly in love with?"

"Yeah... wait, what?" Damian gaped at the blond young woman.

Rosalie snorted. "Well, you're not exactly subtle about it. You follow her around without question and have this 'lost puppy' look on your face whenever she's near you. You look at her like she's the only thing in the world... the only thing in _your_ world; it's like watching a man discover an eighth world wonder. I can only speculate that she's the only one who doesn't realize the obvious."

The young man sighed, discouraged.

"What made you fall?"

He looked back up at the blonde, giving her a questioning look. "What?"

"What made you fall in love with her? Her beauty?" Her tone was somewhat accusing upon saying this. "The genuine innocence she is fully aware she still has and tries to hide so badly?"

Damian shifted his gaze back up, his eyes peering effortlessly through the leaves towards the dark sky. "I fell in love with her courage," he began, his voice becoming oddly soft. "Her strength, her determination... her selflessness, her sincerity, and her flaming self-respect. And it’s these things I’d believe in, even if the whole world indulged in wild suspicions that she isn’t all she should be. I love her and... it's the beginning of everything."

"Do you believe it's true love?" Rosalie asked him, genuinely curious.

When he gave no answer, Rosalie looked at him for a moment, trying to read his face a bit better. Nothing. She got nothing out of it.

"What if she doesn't love you back?"

Damian's face suddenly hardened at her words. "She does. She just doesn't know it yet."

"How do you know you really love her?"

"What is this? 'Twenty-one questions'?" Damian retorted, irritatedly.

"Just answer the question," Rosalie snapped.

The young man rolled his eyes in a slightly over-dramatic way, groaning slightly under his breath. "I just _do._ "

"And how do you know she _really_ loves you back?"

Damian clenched his teeth, never tearing his gaze away from the sky. "I just do," he repeated.

It was Rosalie's turn to roll her eyes. "I'm pretty sure a person would know if and when they fell in love with someone. And are you honestly so gullible to believe that you're the first and only guy she platonically cares for? Have you forgotten the unit you're both part of? The one that's composed mostly of _men_? Some she's probably known even longer than you? Like... I don't, Andrew Carson?" she pointed out.

Damian looked back down at her and glared angrily at her. "What's your point, Barbie?"

"Look. I don't doubt she cares _about_ you, but... love? I haven't known her for so long, but I can already tell she's afraid of the word itself. The only times she actually says it is when she wants to stab something or someone, which, by the way, is totally not a sane way to think. We've all gone through hell in our time here, Ayden more than any of us. If you really, _truly_ love her, you won't rush her into these kinds of feelings that scare the life out of her."

"Who says I'm rushing her into anything?"

"You're practically obsessing over her loving you back!" Rosalie growled. "Damian, if today she is uncertain or uninterested, leave it there, because all you can really do for now is hope that, someday, that love you feel for her will be reciprocated. If you really love her, you won't act out on your feelings; because if you push her into what you want to happen, what you might share will never be real."

Damian was silent for a long moment before looking over at her, a slightly defeated look clouding his usually confident eyes. "How do you know?"

"A person can learn a lot when they watch things happen from the sidelines," Rosalie said softly, a half-hearted smile curling onto her lips. "I don't know Ayden well, but I can tell she's been hurt a lot. Taking things too quickly and rushing into love usually doesn't end well, that's why I'm telling you not to rush her into this. She's still young. You both are. Grow up a bit more first, don't let yourself fall in one trip; there's no point in rushing it— especially not if you want to do it right."

Damian sighed, deflated by the idea of having to wait longer to clearly confess his feelings to the Captain of his unit. "This sucks."

Rosalie chuckled, shrugging slightly. "Sometimes you gotta make sacrifices for the ones you love."

—————————————————————

Ayden walked deeper into the woods once more, following the wolves' footprints, crossing a small stream and climbing some old buildings on her way through. In the end, she managed to retrieve Roth's backpack from the wolves' lair after killing the leader if the pack. She left the place with a small limp she had no doubt would heal in a few minutes, but not before taking some fresh wolf meat with her.

When she got there, she passed the meat to Elena, who instantly began to cook it in the fire she'd built when Ayden had left, while the latter began patching up the still unconscious Roth. After that, it didn't take long for Roth to wake up. When Ayden noticed him coming back to them, she instantly helped him sit up.

Roth took a look at his bandaged leg and said, "It's not bad." He smiled, "Where did a young lady like you learn to do a thing like that?"

Ayden let out a half-hearted and slightly humorless chuckle. "I'm in the army— that's one of the first things we're taught."

Roth shook his head. "Nah, I don't believe it was there that you first learned it." Ayden tensed but said nothing as she kept tending to his other injuries. "You know  _exactly_  what you're doing... a little  _too_  well to have learned this there."

"What's to say I didn't?" Ayden countered. "I've been in the army for almost two years now; I can't exactly say I've learned nothing because, then, I'd be lying."

"You'd be lying if you said you learned everything you knew in the army," he retorted.

Ayden could not counter that argument because he was right. "Fine, oh, Roth the Wiseman; how do you think I learned this?" she asked quietly.

Conrad Roth looked intently at the guarded girl who warily glanced back at him with calculating tricolor eyes. "I think you got into some trouble a while back before you got drafted. You got hauled down a real rough path in which you had to teach yourself how to survive."

She stared at the wistful man for a long moment before a sound resembling that of a buzzer came out of her mouth as she permitted her lips to curl up into a small sheepish and yet slightly mischievous smile.

"Wrong answer; I was insanely clumsy when I was a kid. Had to learn to patch myself up after my mom got tired of doing it herself." There was that pain, again, hidden behind her smile. "Now rest, you've lost quite a pint," she said.

She then turned her attention to Elena. She quietly instructed the latter to position herself in such and such way so she could examine her and tend her wounds. Elena noticed how Ayden tried to avoid as much physical contact as she could, and could only frown when the latter shied away when she suggested she be taken a look at as well.

"Finally, we get a break," said Elena, resting her head against some of the craters surrounding them at the camp they had settled at, as she closed her eyes. "Was it really dangerous? The search for Roth's pack, I mean."

Ayden thought about that for a moment and hid a grimace with a nonchalant shrug. "Well, except for the wolf that attacked me, not really. It was easier than I thought it would be."

Elena sighed. "This island... it's insane. Since we've been here, nothing normal has happened."

"And you expected things to go normally while stranded on an island?" Ayden asked in disbelief.

Elena bit her lip, giving her a sheepish look. "I was expecting the possibility of having to pull a Tom Hanks in that movie... _Lost_ or something like that? Where he was stranded on an island..."

"I think it was _Cast Away_... with the volleyball he drew a face on and turned into his best friend, right?"

Elena smiled slightly. "You saw it?"

Ayden hummed in confirmation. "Saw it with my mom and my brother when I was a kid."

Elena blinked, surprised; this was the second time she'd mentioned her mother since they'd met. She hesitated for a moment, then dared herself to ask what she was thinking.

"Can you... tell me about them?"

Ayden was silent for a moment, then turned away, the expression on her face hard as ever. "There's nothing to tell," she replied curtly. Sighing softly under her breath, she then permitted herself to slightly relax her tense muscles. "I _hate_ this; it's been like some weird nightmare."

After that, they let silence settle between them, the only audible noise being the growing wind forewarning another storm, the crackles of the fire still going on, and a few howls.

"You should sleep," said Elena, eyes closed and head pillowed by her jacket.

"... I can't."

Elena's eyes opened and looked over at Ayden, who was staring at the flames of the burning fire. "Why not? Is it the storm?" she said a bit teasingly, trying to lighten up the mood.

"It's not storms I'm afraid of," Ayden mumbled, poking at the fire with a stick. "My mind tends to get a little too active sometimes; simple imaginations can end up seeming so real. It's worse when I sleep. My mind goes haywire, and my dreams become vivid. With everything that went down since Norway, I don't think it'll be dreams I'll be having anymore; if I close my eyes... I'm afraid I might not wake up with all my mind."

Elena stared at her for a long moment, then closed her eyes and spoke quietly, "My mother used to tell me this story when I was a kid."

"You still are," Ayden muttered.

Ignoring her comment, Elena said, "It was about an ill princess who was locked up in her room most of her life. Her father always told her scary stories about the world, so she wouldn't dare to leave."

"Let me guess," Ayden cut her off. "One day she decided that she couldn't handle that life anymore, so she ran away, vowing never to return."

Elena smiled, eyes still closed as she hummed in confirmation. "She traveled the land and soon realized her father had not completely lied about the cruelties of the world, but after having trained for months on end, learning how to fight and survive, she decided to finally step back into the world with her old alias. The, then, fearless warrior princess fought and taught others, her name becoming lyrics to the songs sung amongst many across the kingdom."

Ayden sighed, throwing more wood into the fire. "Elena, you're not making sense, so just tell me already: what's your point?"

Elena propped herself up on her elbows, then looked at her. "My point is... I don't understand how _you_ could even _feel_ fear," the girl said honestly. "I understand feeling it before becoming a super soldier— I mean, you were pretty sick. But now you're... you're _you_! Captain Carmen Jaubert, the first ever youngest militant to reach such a title in a short time span. You're practically a freakin' goddess— fearless and—"

"Being fearless doesn't mean you have no fears, it just means you're strong enough to face them." Ayden glared at the dancing flames that illuminated her face in the dark of the night. "I didn't always have the strength to face it all, Elena. I didn't have the help you had while growing up." Shutting her eyes, she let out a wavering breath. "I wasn't slowly built into soldiering; I was thrown into it. I only went along with it because I didn't know any better."

"Ayden..." Again, Elena found herself having no idea what to say. "I... I know—"

"No," Ayden cut her off. "You _don't_ know. You don't know anything about this, about _me_." Her eyes opened and stared intently into her own green orbs from across the dancing fire. "You might have felt but a pinch on this island, but you _don't know pain_. I know what you were gonna say, Lena. 'It gets better.'" There was a mocking edge to her tone now, but the seriousness behind her eyes was deadly. "But the truth is, it doesn't. It'll never get better."

Elena cringed internally as she realized that Ayden was right, but she didn't want her to be... not with this. "Or worse. It will only get different, and all you have to do is hang around long enough to see that you _can_ make it work," she tried to persuade the super soldier.

Ayden looked at her for a moment longer before her lips curled into a tight smile, the kind that revealed nothing. "Sometimes, things are just too much for someone to keep hanging around, especially when you know it _won't_ work."

Elena spoke no other word after that. She simply sat up, exhaustion leaving her body almost immediately as she leaned a bit forward to soak in as much warmth from the fire as she could, her elbows on her knees as she squinted her eyes to look more clearly at her companion who had long torn her gaze away and was now looking at the flames anew. Ayden looked... well, not just exhausted, but also ill. The greenish hue of her veins stood out in the orange light of the fire. Now that she looked more closely, Elena could see many distinct lines running along most of Ayden's neck, collar, arms and wrists as the rest of her body was covered by either her slightly ripped trousers and shirt. She had to look away; those weren't the kind of marks one self-inflicted.

If Elena pondered it long enough, she could vividly imagine someone— _people_ strapping Ayden down and torturing her. The American-Canadian soldier said nothing. Elena had thought she would; the girl had a sharp tongue; she had hoped she'd say the first word. She did. But not the word Elena had hoped for.

"Don't bother."

Before the young Russian could think of anything to say, a groan of awakening alerted them of  Roth's submerge out of unconsciousness.

"Rested enough?" Ayden asked, a hint of sarcasm etched in her tone.

Roth grunted. "I feel like I didn't sleep at all."

Ayden snorted humorously. "That's because you were out for about, approximately, twelve-hundred seconds only; that's not enough time for a good rest after the past few weeks we've spent here."

"We can't afford to rest any longer if we want to get off this goddamn island."

Ayden nodded in agreement. "So... I assume the plan is to take the transmitter up to the radio tower?"

"Would it work?" Elena asked, her brows furrowing in concern. "The weather's pretty harsh right now."

"I don't know if you've noticed, Miss Elena, but the weather has a habit of being harsh on this island," said Roth. "Besides, it's the best shot of broadcasting a strong signal in every direction."

"But what if the storm interferes with the signal?"

Ayden knew her companion was right, and though she knew that they had to try at least, she couldn't help but hesitate; Roth seemed to have noticed it.

"Look, Ayden." He sat up a bit more and placed a comforting hand on her knee. "We need to send out that SOS, and I'm not climbing any time soon. And I know there is no way you will be letting your friend here go there either."

Elena's eyes widened momentarily before she sighed in defeat, her shoulders slouching slightly; she knew he was right and there was no way she would win the argument this time around. "I was afraid you were going to say that," she said softly.

"You can do it, Ayden," said Roth, his voice soft and fatherly— a tone Ayden had become quite unfamiliar with while growing up. "After all, you're a member of the Devil's Brigade."

Ayden smiled slightly, in spite of herself. "I'm Captain of the Feral Force."

Roth gave her a warm smile. "Successor of the Devil's Brigade."

Ayden shook her head, looking down at her hands. "I don't think I've made a good job in succeeding them."

"Sure, you have," said Roth, sliding his climbing ax over to her. "You just need to believe it yourself."

She looked at him for a moment, then, letting out a small breath, she said, "Well, let's get this horrifying show on the road, then."

Then she reached for the climbing ax, though before she could fully take hold of it, Roth caught her wrist. "Just be careful, Ayden."

A tight smile on her lips, she looked back up at him then nodded before getting up, sending Elena a hard look to which she nodded in return. Walking past the fire, Ayden grabbed the transmitter then walked out into the dark of the night, setting off for a communications relay at the very top of the mountain, in hopes of contacting the outside world and calling for aid.

Heading for the rough stone wall, Ayden moved close, then set the ax into the rock and began to climb it. She soon rounded to the right, then up a bit more to reach the ledge with a wrecked plane.

"There are a lot of crashed planes here," Ayden mumbled, slightly discouraged as she crossed over the plane's wing to the area on the right.

Climbing the next section of craggy wall, with a strong pull, she finally reached the ledge above. Latching onto the next section of climbable rock, she moved to the left, then, leaning towards that side, she tensed her muscles slightly, then jumped, quickly latching her climbing axe onto the next section of rock, where she scaled the rest of the way to the ledge above, near the wolves' den she had previously visited.

Nearing it, she noticed white graffiti on the cliff wall. Stepping out onto the wooden bridge, she hopped down into the water on the right, then moved under the waterfall into the tunnel entrance, and began to follow the passageway into the cave.

Once deep inside, going down a passageway she had not seen before, she came upon two movable objects; the first was a large hanging cage with cocoons dangling from it, making her want to puke at just the sight of it as she remembered her first day on the island.

"Hmm... gilded figures... must've been servants of the Sun Queen..." she mumbled.

Shifting her gaze to the other movable, which consisted of a simple smaller cage on the ledge to the right, she soon found that the two cages were connected by some kind of pulley system. After studying for a quick yet long enough moment, she jumped from the red ledge onto the larger cage, then ran across it and quickly jumped to grab the ledge on the opposite side of the room. When she reached the far ledge, she lit her newly acquired torch on the brazier, then jumped back onto the large cage.

She stumbled slightly as her weight caused the cage to sink to the floor. However ignoring it, she used the torch to burn the three cocoons. This action lightened the weight within the cage, so instead of staying sunken to the floor, it rose to its original level. Jumping onto the starting ledge, she then moved around to the smaller cage on the left and, with a slight grunt, shoved it off the edge. It sunk to the floor, causing the larger cage to rise.

Moving back around to the red ledge, she jumped once more, this time to grab the bottom bar of the larger cage. Quickly climbing onto the platform, she took a running jump toward the climbable wall on the left, then threw herself into the air, her arm flying forward to latch onto the wall with her climbing ax, where she then proceeded by climbing right, then upward, to reach the ledge above. She then followed the passage, which soon led her to a large treasure chest.

"This may have been built in honor of her Priestesses. Incredible," she muttered under her breath, glancing around the decorated cave in awe.

Her gaze settling back on the treasure chest, she became hesitant on whether she should open it or not, but curiosity got to her and pushed her into finding out what it had. She discovered there was a map to the Mountain Village, which pertained to all its relics. She knew she wouldn't go looking for them, but the map was treasure itself, so she neatly folded it, then put it in the pocket of her pants.

Turning back on her heels, she ran back the way she came and jumped into the air, sliding down the zip line that hung the cages to the ceiling, all the way down to ledge she'd first jumped off. Following the tunnel back, she went on in a jog till she was finally outside again.

It was raining by then, but she didn't let that stop her as proceeded to scale the next climbable cliff just beyond the wooden bridge and waterfall that had first led her into the cave. Once at the top, she crossed the grassy ledge and jumped to latch onto the next climbable section with her ax. Climbing to the top, she quickly took cover behind the crate in front of her before the three men in the huts ahead could see her. Grabbing an arrow from her quiver, she waited for a moment, for the men to finish talking and settle down. Peeking a glance above the crate, she saw there were two men on the left, and the third was on the right.  
  
Moving a bit more out from behind the crate, she aimed for the lone man through the window of the shack, arrow pointing towards his head; she knew it'd be better to go for the kill shot right away, otherwise, he would alert the others. Once she'd taken care of him, she moved back to the cover of the crate. Taking a deep breath, she quickly shot out of little more from her cover and made quick to take good aim of the standing man on the left with a headshot as well. Then, she took out his partner, the firebug, with, again, another headshot as he got to his feet. Then, after making sure the coast is clear, she continued making her way up the mountain.

Skipping ahead and jumping over to the hut on the right, she went through it to the other side and climbed up onto the roof. Then, jumping onto the next ledge, she turned to face up the mountain and scrambled up the wooden wall onto the ledge above. She then jumped over to the little island in the middle of the raging stream, then walked across the narrow beam to the ledge with a strange-looking statue.

"This is too much jumping," she huffed, irritated, as she readied herself to jump once again, this time, to the upper level of a larger hut.

Stepping out onto the ledge, she used a wooden crate to climb onto the roof, where she found a bird's nest. She looked at it sadly when she noticed the deceased birds in it. Swallowing hard, she turned herself away from the sad and sickening sight and dropped down onto the ledge below the one with the crate. She then dropped down once more and entered the lower level of the hut, then finally, exited onto the ledge overlooking the stream, turned right and hopped over to the ledge on the side of the hut.

Crossing over the ledge at the front of the hut, she jumped onto the wooden platform in the middle of the stream. She jumped from there to grab the rickety wooden arch above, pulled herself up, then jumped onto the ledge ahead, climbing up to the next level. There, she jumped again from the wooden cart to the climbable rock wall ahead, latching on with her ax before climbing to the top. After she crossed this ledge and jumped to latch on to the next climbable wall, she scaled to the top and reached a rather rickety wooden bridge.

She turned left and cautiously began to cross it, though just as she reached the middle of it, it began to collapse beneath her. Her reaction coming quickly, she sprinted ahead, then leaped forward, thrusting her arm forward as she did so, her climbing ax embedding itself into the cliff wall ahead. A slight grimace on her face, she clenched her jaw, then pushed her muscles as much as she could as she climbed to the top. As she climbed the steps beyond the bridge, the crackling sound of static emitting from her walkie-talkie caught her attention.

The sound of Reyes' voice then emitted from the radio strapped to her waistband. " _Ayden... are you there?_ "

"Reyes! Did you find Sam?" was Ayden's immediate reply.

" _We're still on her trail_."

Ayden exhaled through her nose in disappointment. "I'm going to try and send an SOS from an old radio tower up here," she informed the woman. "Any tips?"

Suddenly, the sound of Alex's voice took over the radio. " _Hey, Ayden! You're gonna need to find the communications console,_ " he instructed her. " _It'll look like a bunch of old switchboards._ "

Nodding absentmindedly, Ayden replied, "Okay, I'll let you know when I find it," as she neared the edge of another cliff she noticed had a zip line that would lead her to another base.

Letting out a shaky breath in anticipation as she knew there would no doubt be more people down there she would have to kill, she ran forward then, throwing her climbing ax over the cable to hold it with both hands, she let herself slide down the zip line into the narrow canyon below. She was immediately ambushed by three Solarii soldiers. Quickly killing them off, she made her way forth when the coast was clear, staying alert.

After looting their bodies for a few bullets rather than arrows since they weren't bowmen, she went around the corrugated metal wall, then followed down the shallow stream into the cave and squeezed through a gap in the rocks, emerging in a new base camp. It was abandoned, and she was practically freezing to death in that ripped tank top, and thin jeans, so she sat by the dying fire on the ground, poking it about with a rogue stick, sighing when her body quickly soaked in the heat, despite the extremely light rain.

After a few moments in the heat, she finally stood back up, mentally prepping herself for the upcoming action. "Okay, Ayden. Pull yourself together; they're counting on you."

If there was one more thing Ayden was coming to hate, it was being ambushed. If there was such thing as an ambush and abduction competition, she was sure she would win without any second thoughts from whoever would judge it. After she was ambuscaded for the umpteenth time, she finally managed to slither her way into the control room she had so desperately been looking for the past hour or so.

A few more turns and climbs were taken before the young Captain finally reached the control room, only to be all the more infuriated when she discovered that the controls were not working, and probably hadn't been for quite some time, now that she thought about it. Glancing through the window in front of her, she noticed a radio tower quite a distance ahead.

"You gotta be kidding me," she grumbled.

She shut her eyes for a moment, then, with one deep breath, she turned toward the hole in the north wall of the control room and squeezed through her way through the narrow space, where steam pipes ran along the inside of the wall. She moved forward through the twisting passage until she came to a low opening blocked by metal slats. With a roll of her eyes, she brought her leg back, then swung it forward, kicking the grate, before she crouched her way through, within seconds, emerging outside in the next area.

When she emerged from the tunnel with steam pipes leading out of the Mountain Base, light snow had begun falling.

"Snow?" she mumbled to herself. "This isn't normal... then again, nothing in this damn place is..."

She looked ahead and saw the radio tower in the distance. Turning right, then dropping down off the ledge, she crossed a bridge on the right side up ahead, and then went on her new little journey to the radio tower.

She tiptoed her way across a slightly ruined iron bridge, becoming more cautious as she nearly reached the other side, hiding behind a truck that seemed a little out of place, in her opinion. Suddenly, she was grabbed from behind and found herself struggling against the grip of her attacker before managing to push him off her and kick him off the bridge. She cringed inwardly upon seeing his body fall into the empty air, then collide against oddly spiky rocks on the edge of the mountain, killing him after the second hit.

Fighting off and killing another few Solarii soldiers, she moved a little further northwest, rounding a corner of the upper floor of the previously guarded building she'd had to go through, then jumped to grab the rope that led out to the base of the tower. She then climbed across and dropped down on the metal platform, then went around to the side of the platform and approached the ladder leading upward.

Climbing the tower was much more difficult than she had anticipated; the rusted iron of each metal bar did no good to her freezing, chapped hands and the higher she went, the more she shivered. At one point, when she reached the middle, the bottom part of the ladder fell off. She was lucky she had just climbed past it, for, if not, she would have fallen to her death.

Making it to the top platform, she forced herself to not look around her as she went up the other ladder, all the way up to another, smaller platform. Crawling onto it, she finally chanced a glance below and felt a bit of bile pour into her mouth when she saw how far up she was. Glancing up, she groaned upon noticing another ladder.

"I don't care what people say, I'm taking a vacation once this is over," she grumbled to herself as she pushed herself and began to climb once more. "I'll rent a room at a hotel and stay in the whole time..." _Grunt_. "Better yet. I'll quit!" _Grunt_. "I'll buy myself a house in Vancouver and lazy myself up—" _Grunt_. "— I'll sleep in every freakin' day and rest up for my thirties..."

She panted and gasped, trying to catch her breath when she finally made it to the tip of the tower. She remained there for a long moment, trying to calm her nerves and the rather intense shivers running down her body. When she deemed herself calm enough, she brought out her walkie-talkie and contacted Alex.

"Alex?" she said rather breathlessly.

" _Ayden!_ " The man was clearly surprised, yet relieved by the tone in his voice.

"I'm at the panel," she told him, pulling the cover open, revealing the small rusted control panel.

" _Okay... the tower should boost a signal from the transmitter._ "

Ayden nodded to herself as she placed her radio on top of the panel. Pulling up the transmitter, she stuffed it in the small empty corner of the panel. "Okay."

" _Alright, find the emergency channel and get a clear signal on your radio before you broadcast the SOS._ "

Following his instructions, she first swiveled the left stick on the keyboard, clockwise, to tune the radio.

" _Hey..._ " he said after a moment. " _We got everything crossed for you down here, Ayden._ "

She took a deep breath, absentmindedly nodding as she thanked him aloud. When the needle on the readout on the right pointed to the fourth tick mark from the left, excitement began to build up in the pit of her stomach when she began to faintly hear an announcer's voice speak.

It came from a nearby rescue plane that managed to pick up her signal.

" _You've tuned to the International Emergency Broadcast Response System. Please identify your situation and location coordinates and stand by for a response._ "

"Mayday, mayday," she spoke in a strong voice. "This is Carmen Jaubert, Captain of the Feral Force Unit of America, rescued victim and survivor of the _Endurance_. We are stranded on an island in the Dragon's Triangle. We need help and medical supplies. Please respond."

She waited a moment, breath held in as she hoped for an answer. The excitement downed out of her and turned into panic when she got not response.

"Come on... come on..." Grabbing the transmitter, she tried to broadcast her signal again. "Mayday, mayday, this is Carmen Jaubert, Captain of the Feral Force Unit of America, rescued victim and survivor of the _Endurance_ —"

" _This is aircraft N177A._ " Ayden cried out joyfully, relieved. " _Searching for you since the distress call from your vessel. Almost given up hope!_ "

"So had we!" she admitted, a small watery smile on her face.

" _We've got your approximate position, but we could sure use a visual._ "

"I'll figure something out," she reassured the pilot.

" _We'll be heading your way soon. Out._ "

When the SOS broadcasting was over, Ayden smiled brightly for the first time since Norway as she listened to her friends laughing joyfully through the speaker of her walkie-talkie.

" _Ayden Jaubert, you are my hero!_ " Alex cried out, earning a chuckle from the girl. " _Hey, you know, Reyes actually just cracked a smile!_ "

Ayden relished that small moment of happiness for a few seconds before her mind was back in the matter at hand. _Right, need a signal..._ She closed her eyes for a moment as she thought.

"A fire," she mumbled. "Fuel. Flames... I can do that."

Climbing down to the first platform of the radio tower, she threw her climbing ax over the thick rope above her head, held it with both hands, then jumped, flying down the zip line until she fell onto the cold ground on the other end, grunting in irritation at the slightly painful fall.

"That's one way to get down," she muttered.

She'd fallen into a small clearing to the southwest of the tower. Moving forward down the steps, she found placed fuel tanks a little further ahead.

 _Well, how convenient_... she thought sarcastically. _Now... how do I ignite them..._

Nearing the tanks, she scouted the objects about, squinting her eyes as she thought. Suddenly, an idea popping into her head when she caught sight of the old empty cabin in the corner of her eye, she brought out her climbing ax and used to crank open the red valve near the tanks. This caused a puddle of fuel to form on the ground.

Turning to the cabin on the other side of the clearing, she jogged her way in, smirking slightly to herself when she found a fire striker sitting on an old table.  Snatching it from the slightly battered piece of furniture, she gently placed it on the ground before kicking at one of the legs from the table, in result, breaking it off. She quickly snatched the broken leg from the ground, paying no mind to the table that toppled over being broken, and lit the wooden piece on fire with the fire striker.

 _Striker..._ she thought to herself randomly. ' _s got a nice ring to it._

Running back outside, she stopped a few feet away from the puddle of fuel and threw the burning broken wood she held into it, which instantly ignited the puddle into wild flames. The fire then spread to the tanks and caused them to explode.

"Okay, even a person with the poorest eyesight can see all this," she muttered, inwardly hoping this signal was as clear as she believed it to be.

After a moment's pause, excitement began to bubble up inside her when her ears caught the faint sound of a running engine up in the sky. Her excitement, however, quickly donned out into horror when she saw storm clouds appear out of nowhere. A bolt of lightning suddenly stroke from the sky, hitting the plane, plain center, causing it to catch fire and plummet toward the earth below.

_NO ONE LEAVES!!!_

"Oh, come on!" she cried out as she turned and made a mad dash to avoid being crushed.

Within the next few seconds, she was tumbling ass over teakettle down a muddy slope, with pieces of the broken aircraft careening down behind her. Right and left, she steered to avoid the fence-like barriers made of planks and barbed wire; there would be a lot of more wounds if she crashed into them. A bit farther down the slope, there was a burning pile of wreckage. Acting quickly, she steered around it, up the wooden ramp on her left and came out on the other side, sliding down onto a wooden ledge.

As she rolled out onto this ledge, she tumbled over but quickly shot a hand out to regain her grip before she could plummet into the chasm below. Pulling herself up onto the wooden ledge, she waited briefly for more debris to come tumbling toward her. As soon as it did, she ran forward and jumped across the gap onto the next wooden ledge, grunting and gasping in pain, as she tiredly thought,

_Why me?_

—————————————————————

"She's been gone a while," Elena mumbled absentmindedly, lightly poking at the fire with her stick as her eyes remained glued to the flames, ears, however, on high alert.

The sky had cleared as the morning began to rise with the sun, but it was still rather cold where she and the old marine were settled.

"She'll be fine. She's a tough one," Roth reassured her.

"She may be tough, but even the toughest of people need to know their limits. But she's..." Elena sighed. "She's just so darn stubborn. She knows they're there, but she won't even give them the slightest thought. She doesn't get that everyone has limits. That—"

"You just have to learn what your own limits are and deal with them accordingly?"

Elena blinked slightly, surprised that this man knew what she was going to say. "Yeah."

He gave her a kind, wistful smile. The kind that reminded her of her father, whom, just the thought of, made her think of her mother and the rest of her family. The family she lied to, letting them believe she was going to attend a boarding school out of state when, really, she slithered her way into the army under a false identity... well, not _completely_ ; everything in her file was true... except for the last bit about her education— she hasn't even finished high school to Minor in Sociology in college— and her year of birth.

Thinking about her family made her miss them terribly, but nothing made her regret her decision; after all, she did get her brother back and gained some real friends and a _best_ friend. Granted, they're all older than her— even Ayden— but she realized that she didn't mind that factor as much as she once would have. Sure, she felt hints of regret in her decisions that landed the rest of the Feral Force on Yamatai (something she had no doubt Ayden had been trying to avoid), mostly because of the torture they'd endured under Dr. Blake's command— something she was thankful she couldn't remember due to being passed out whenever her turn came— and God only knows what the rest of the unit was going through.

But she didn't regret enrolling into the army, even less meeting Ayden. After all, had it not been for the Captain, she probably would've never gotten her brother back, nor would she'd have survived this far out, alone, in the world.

"The thing is, Miss Elena: if you always put a limit on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. That's why Ayden ignores hers. That's what most soldiers tend to do when facing a war that's bigger than what we're usually trained for. No soldier can afford to look for limits, only plateaus. And one must not stay there; one must go beyond them."

Elena shook her head, not wanting to believe that. "Everyone has limits, Mister Roth, whether we like it or not. It's just that not everyone accepts them. And I don't know if Ayden told you what we _actually_ do, but this is not something we can just leave for a... 'decision-making process' meeting. We need to keep ourselves in check, or we'll run ourselves down. Or worse: if we can't accept limitations, if we are boundary-less, we'll be no better than the bad guys."

Roth chuckled. "Not necessarily. As long as you know what you're doing, and what you're doing isn't wrong, then you are nowhere near the bad guys."

Elena smiled back slightly at the retired Royal Marine. "I wish _others_ thought like you, Mister Roth."

"I doubt the world would be more heavenly if others thought like me," Roth replied.

Before either of them could add anything, though, an explosion resonated in the distance. Both heads snapped in the direction it came from and their eyes widened simultaneously upon seeing the plane in the far off distance, crashing down.

"Ayden!"

Elena sprung to her feet and was about to print in the direction her friend had run off to hours ago. However, Roth quickly pulled her back down, stopping her from doing anything reckless... like getting herself killed.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"To find Ayden, what do you think?!" the girl exclaimed herself.

Roth only pulled her back down more roughly. _Gee, for an injured man, he sure is still strong_ , she thought upon struggling to get out of his restraining grip.

"And how will you do that? Follow the yellow brick road? You may be a soldier, kid, but this isn't a battlefield you wanna go in alone."

"I can't just sit out here, doing nothing!"

"Because that's exactly all we can do. That friend o' yours may be reckless, but she's already figured this island out more than the rest of us; she knows what she's doing. She's made contact with a rescuing crew; all we can do now is wait for her return before we reunite with everyone else."

"What if she doesn't come back?" Elena asked in a small voice.

"She will."

**Author's Note:**

> **ATTENTION** I DO NOT OWN ANY OF MARVEL, TOMB RAIDER'S OR ANY OTHER RECOGNIZABLE ORIGINAL CHARACTERS. I ONLY OWN AYDEN JAUBERT AND MANY OTHER CHARACTERS YOU HAVE NEVER READ OR HEARD OF.


End file.
